After winning the majority of state Democratic officials' votes on Saturday, Sheila Simon will be Gov. Pat Quinn's running mate in the Nov. 2 election.
Simon, 49, is a native of Carbondale, Ill. and the daughter of late distinguished Illinois politician Paul Simon. She served four years on the Carbondale City Council, capped by an unsuccessful run at mayor in 2007; she is currently a clinical associate professor of law at Southern Illinois University—Carbondale.
Simon's Downstate roots help balance a Cook County-centered Democratic ticket, considering Republican gubernatorial candidate Sen. Bill Brady and lieutenant governor candidate Jason Plummer hail from Bloomington and Edwardsville, respectively.
Simon received the most votes from the Democratic State Central Committee, finishing ahead of longtime Chicago legislator Rep. Art Turner, D-9th District, who ran in the initial Feb. 2 primary and had the backing of most Black Democrats.
In Quinn's endorsement of Simon March 26 ( prior to the approving vote of the committee ) , he spoke highly of the Simon name and legacy as an example of public service ethics. After former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's arrest, Quinn appointed Simon to the Illinois Reform Commission.
Paul Simon was a longtime Illinois legislator who served in both the state House in Senate in the '50s and '60s and eventually the United States House and Senate from 1975 to 1997. He even served one term as lieutenant governor and made a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, all within the span of a more-than-40-year career in politics.
In 1996, as U.S. senator, he voted against the Defense of Marriage Act and in favor of the bill ( narrowly defeated ) that would have federally prohibited employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.
LGBT leaders are confident Sheila will carry those same views into her candidacy.
"I assume and hope she's cut out of the same cloth as her dad, who was really a champion of liberty," said Rep. Greg Harris, D-13th District.
Rick Garcia, public policy director for Equality Illinois, has spent much time in Carbondale and said Simon has always been LGBT-friendly.
"When she was running for mayor she actively sought out LGBT voters, so I think she's right in line with the governor," Garcia said.
In her statement after the vote, Simon made it clear she did not want—or expect—voters to support her on her family name.
"A famous name is not enough. Voters shouldn't stop there," she said, according to the Chicago Tribune. " … The famous name gets my foot in the door, and that's only the start. It shouldn't be the end."
Harris said he thinks that Simon will help the ticket overall and highlight the complete polarization of Quinn and Brady on social issues.
"It brings some geographical balance to the ticket," Harris said, "but it also brings to the ticket that the Bill Bradys of the world are not even representative of the communities of Central and Southern Illinois—he's representative of a very small fringe element and not mainstream thought on human rights."
Paulette Curkin, the former coordinator of the GLBT Resource Center at Southern Illinois University, told Windy City Times that " [ s ] he's probably about the best ally we have down here. [ She ] helped us on a number of occasions as far as providing free legal advice. When she was on city council she was very gay-positive. Very good friend of mine, never discriminated even a little bit. She has gay and lesbian friends, [ and is ] very sensitive to trans issues."
Simon graduated from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, in 1983 and Georgetown University Law Center in 1987. She spent approximately 12 years as a practicing criminal and civil attorney before arriving at SIU where she teaches part of the Lawyering Skills Program as well as family law. Also in Carbondale, she plays banjo and bassoon in an all-women blues band named Loose Gravel.
Simon is married to Perry Knop, a professor and chair at John A. Logan College in Carterville. They have two children: Reilly, 20, and Brennan, 15.
