Windy City Times asked some people which races they are following this election cycle. This is what they had to say:
—Kit Duffy, gay-rights advocate: "I am following most closely Jesus ( Chuy ) Garcia's race for Cook County commissioner from the Seventh District. With Daley's exit, there exists the potential for the revival of a genuinely progressive and independent coalition, one that reflects the diversity of the city and county and which supports community-based direction of how government operates. Garcia, with his long and unbroken history of advocacy for fairness and equality for all individuals, would be the natural leader of that movement, and I'm thrilled that he is back in politics and government."
—Bernard Cherkasov, Equality Illinois CEO: "Equality Illinois has endorsed terrific candidates in some very crucial races, such as re-electiainn for governor. In addition, we are at risk of losing pro-equality majority in Congress, and I will be following the races of Alexi Giannoulias for U.S. Senate and many strong candidates for U.S. House of Representatives. It is up to the LGBT community to make sure that we elect people who will advance our equal rights."
—Jamal Edwards, Howard Brown Health Center CEO: "The leadership at Howard Brown Health Center is carefully watching all of the races that impact our state and its health, and specifically the LGBT community. But we are paying very close attention to the governor's race as well as the U.S. Senate race for President Obama's former seat, the 5th and 9th U.S. Congressional district races, the race for 12th District State Representative, the state comptroller's race and several others."
—Anthony Martinez, LGBT-rights activist: "I am most interested in the governor's race and the state senate race, as I suspect most people are. With the lack of enthusiasm behind Quinn, and the amount of enthusiasm that is being shown from the right, especially the Tea Party, I am very worried we will see 'Gov. Brady' all over the signage on the interstate—I think it would be disastrous for our community, but just might be what we need.
"It is also interesting because of the two other candidates in the governor's race, Whitney and Cohen. I am interested to see how many votes that they gain and what that does to the two main party candidates. I would also like to see Giannoulias win, as he has been very outspoken with regards to LGBTQ equality. Mark Kirk voted against 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' after stating he would vote to repeal it. I would really like to see him held accountable for his lies. The recent polling has been very encouraging in both races, but it is imperative that the LGBTQ community and other progressives from across the state not only vote, but engage voters and encourage others to vote."
—Jim Bennett, Lambda Legal Midwest regional director: "I'm watching the judicial elections in Iowa this year. In April 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of full marriage equality. Three of the Supreme Court justices are on the ballot this year ( in Iowa, judges are up for retention every eight years ) , and a campaign financed by the Family Research Council and the National Organization for Marriage has plowed a tremendous amount of money into Iowa, encouraging people who disagree with the same-sex marriage ruling to vote no on the judges retention."
