Over forty Chicago-area Women’s groups banded together, determined to provide women with a full picture of where candidates for Illinois governor stand on the issues which women say are important to them at this year’s Women’s Gubernatorial Forum, which took place on December 9th at the Chicago Temple. Among the broad group of involved organizations in the Forum are traditional women’s organizations like “Women Employed” and “NOW”, as well as new organizations of young people such as “Chicago Students Take Action”, “Power Pumps” and “Cause the Effect Chicago.” There is representation from African-American, Latino and labor groups.
The Temple’s huge auditorium was filled to capacity, with thousands more watching on cable television or online. That audience underscored the oft-mentioned fact that women this year are attuned to politics and were there to judge gubernatorial candidates on the basis of their answers to those significant questions. The Forum, garnered more than 800 attendees, 6,000 viewers on CWTA’s and Indivisible’s Facebook livestreams and reached more than
21,000 through those channels, CAN TV and other sites. The Forum participants were candidates Daniel Biss, J.B. Pritzker, Chris Kennedy and Tio Hardiman. Gov. Bruce Rauner and State Rep. Jeanne Ives declined invitations.
The Forum was moderated by WNBC’s Mary Ann Ahern and Jaquie Algee of Chicago Women Take Action and SEIU Healthcare. Each of the candidates was queried on issues highlighted in the Chicago Women’s Agenda which was created through a broad-input process.
The 11-point agenda includes a broad range of issues that affect women’s lives from economic security and empowerment, healthcare, reproductive rights to issues of criminal justice, gun control, public space and the environment. The agenda has been the basis for joint action among the various groups since 2014 when it was created.
During and for an hour after the conclusion of the event, a non-scientific straw poll was conducted to determine whom, after hearing the candidates, attendees and others would vote for if the election were held that day. They were asked to choose among the four candidates at the Forum, though they could also select “none of the above” (that option received .4 per cent of the vote).
The straw poll, taken between 2:00 and 5:00 p.m. on that day, garnered 554 votes, with Daniel Biss receiving 256 votes or 46%; JB Pritzker receiving 161 votes or 29 %; Chris Kennedy receiving 129 or 23% of the vote and Tio Hardiman trailing with 4 votes or .7 percent. Four people chose ‘none of the above’.
In addition, 139 votes were cast before the event and therefore not counted in the official tally as the respondents had not yet heard the candidates. Of those votes, 75 votes were cast for Pritzker and 62 for Biss. Kennedy and ‘none of the above’ each received one vote. According to CWTA convener Marilyn Katz:
“For us in the Alliance, the Forum was everything we wanted it to be. The reach and audience were great. The candidates were thoughtful and respectful. And through our partnership the 44 groups have established a firm bond with which to tackle the issues and the elections ahead. For us now, it’s on to January 20th the next Chicago Women’s March, then onto the elections of March and November.”
Katz is a noted activist who has been involved in the effort to educate women on the importance of political involvement since 1967. Her influential work has led to the founding of groups such as “The Chicago Women’s Union”, the “LA Women’s Union”, and the “Reproductive Rights National Network”, among many others. ccording to Katz:
“I think it’s indicative of what we’re seeing around us. This is an awakening of women not only to their need for political power, but for the possibility of exercising their political power. There’s a greater willingness to work together, a greater unity and a greater diversity of women’s organizations which see acting in the political arena as part of their agenda.”
The wide variety of women participating in the Forum from all walks of life, includes African American, Latina, Asian and white as well as the range of small organizations. Ages range from high school girls, represented by Chicago Students Take Action to women who are 85 and 90 years old The importance and influence of diversity is clear and the forum will continue to bring the microphone to those who cannot reach it.
“Intersectionality has always been there because we are black, we are workers, we are active, we are many, many things…we are LGBT, we’re gay, we’re straight. That’s who we are. It’s not a matter of trying to represent, but of being fully representative of all women in all the ways they express who they are. There’s a real exchange of experience and exchange of skills so the youngsters learning strategies and tactics from the older ones and the older ones learning digital media from the younger ones, so it’s pretty cool.”
Katz explained that vocalization of women’s rights emerged after Obama’s 2012 campaign. After a year of asking ourselves “could we do this issue or that issue” we said:
“Well why don’t we? We’re always doing progressive agendas but where’s the women’s agenda? What do women think? What do we need? And so we decided to find out. We brought together twenty organizations, forged an agenda and we’ve been active ever since, eally winning some critically important victories such as the raising of the minimum wage in Chicago. There’s been a very important fight for poor women around maintaining the legality of abortion and getting it paid for this year. It’s interesting and new energy. We sometimes come from winning and sometimes come from losing, but this moment is a movement.”
While the goal for this Forum was, to empower women, there is also a dire need to make sure that these issues are being voiced and that people are involved in this kind of political discussion. Katz explains:
“We are telling women that if they care about issues of equality, of what kind of education, of housing and healthcare, they and their families need to thrive, they need to pay attention to politics, and get involved and vote. Their lives depend on it.”
Creative Credits
- Written by
- Kate Carnahan
- Image courtesy
- Chicago Women Take Action (CWTA)
