Former Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon, on Sept. 7, announced that she will run to represent Illinois' 58th district in 2016, according to reports.
The daughter of the late U.S. Senator Paul Simon, Sheila Simon served as lieutenant governor under Gov. Pat Quinn from 2011-2015. In 2014, she ran to unseat incumbent Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, but lost. Topinka passed away the following month.
Republican state Sen. David Luechtefeld has held the 58th District office since 1995, but has said he will not run in 2016.
Simon, who has announced her 2016 run at the Du Quoin County Fair, has also been a prominent figure in Carbondale-area politics as well as a professor at Southern Illinois University's law school. She advocated extensively for marriage equality and other LGBT rights during her time as lieutenant governor, which she explained in a 2014 interview with Windy City Times.
"I've supported marriage equality back when everyone was talking about civil unions. I performed a [same-sex] wedding for a friend just a few weeks ago," Simon said. "...But while our laws might be strong, that doesn't mean that behavior will follow. We've outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, just like we've outlawed it on the basis of gender and race. But we know that these continue, so we have to be ready to enforce the laws, make sure people know about the laws and promote not just a change in the law but a change in the culture."