Marilyn Morales wanted to make history as Chicago's city clerkshe would have been the highest-ranking gay person in city government and the first Latina to hold the position.
But Morales, a lesbian activist and Chicago Park District operations manager, was not able to secure the required 12,500 signatures by the late-November deadline to put her name on the ballot.
"I started late in the game," Morales said. "If I had gotten on the ballot and won, one of the things I would have done would have been to get election information out there so it is much more transparent, so individuals who really want to serve the public and are not affiliated with any political [ party ] will have the information [ needed. ] I did not have the information in a timely manner. I was not aware of what it took to do something like this. I found out toward the end of October."
And that's when she embarked on a local, grassroots effort, pushing strongly for support in the Puerto Rican and gay communities, naturally.
Acquiring the needed signatures, she said, "is not an easy thing to do, especially when you don't have a lot of money or a [ political ] machine behind you."
Morales said her signature-seeking crew included gays, lesbians and transgender individuals, all working side by side.
"I definitely learned things going forward, and I definitely understand the political arena much more than I did a month ago," Morales said. "Naively, I think we all thought we could accomplish something on a grass-roots level on short-notice.
"I think it's going to take people like me to continue to push the political envelope. If it's not me now, it's going to be someone, someday. And hopefully I helped open the doors for that person, and I helped show that, yes, we can accomplish something.
"I'm going to make it my job to really ensure that we all know what the political process is to serving this city, so everyone knows what it takes.
"At least we tried, and tried well, and did well. To get a little more than 10,000 signatures in about a month without much financial or political support really is a testament to everyone who was on the campaign and believed and wanted something better than what have."
Morales, 48, lives in Jefferson Park and is in a relationship with Luissette Hernandez-Medina. And someday Morales wants to marry Hernandez-Medina, she said, ironically, hours before the Illinois House of Representatives passed a historic civil-unions bill.
Morales grew up in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood and came out as a lesbian while at Public Park High School. She earned her bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Aurora University and went on to get her master's degree from the University of Illinois-Chicago. For the last 16 years, Morales has been working as operations manager for the Chicago Park District.
So what now?
She plans to rest, she said, laughing.
And she also is tracking the race for mayor of Chicago.
"Mayor Daley did a lot; he was a good ally, a good friend. We need to make sure that we have someone in City Hall who is going to continue the progress for us," she said.
"We need more role models in our community, especially people of color. We need to be out; we need to be open; and we need to be active. We need to make sure that everyone knows that people from the LGBT community and the Latino community want to fulfill our dreams."