Democrat Ann Gillespie, an Arlington Heights lawyer and community organizer, promises to be the kind of motivated lawmaker Springfield sorely needs to find answers to problems that others have let fester for too long.
As a lawyer, Gillespie specialized in health care issues. As a community organizer, she worked for a higher state minimum wage and mandatory sick leave for all workers. As a legislator, Gillespie says, she would focus on education and health care issues. She also favors a graduated state income tax and a broadening of the sales tax to include services so as to balance the state’s budget. She is endorsed.
Incumbent Republican state Sen. Tom Rooney, a former Rolling Meadows mayor, also is running.
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SUN-TIMES 2018 ILLINOIS VOTING GUIDE
RELATED
• Illinois Senate 27th District Democratic nominee: Ann Gillespie
• Illinois Senate 27th District Republican nominee: Tom Rooney
Ahead of the historic 2018 elections, the Sun-Times is teaming up weekly with the Better Government Association, in print and online, to fact-check the truthfulness of the candidates. You can find all of the PolitiFact Illinois stories we’ve reported together here.
