ENDORSEMENT: Ken Mejia-Beal for Illinois House in 42nd District

We don’t know what Republican state Rep. Amy Grant meant when she made a point, in a recorded phone call with a potential donor, of describing her opponent as someone who wants “to work for the chronically ill.”

Was it a neutral observation? Or a snarky put-down of her challenger, Democrat Ken Mejia-Beal? Who knows?

But concern for the less fortunate and a desire to help the underdog are, in our view, pretty good qualities for a potential legislator. Mejia-Beal, a financial manager from Lisle, has those qualities and a track record of community activism, including lobbying campaigns for Howard Brown Health and the NAACP. He has our endorsement in this election.

Mejia-Beal would be a first-time elected official, while Grant is the incumbent and has served on the DuPage County Board. Still, she hasn’t really accomplished much in two years. And then there were those troubling phone calls, on which she made disparaging comments about Mejia-Beal, who is Black and gay. Grant has apologized, but we’re moving on, endorsing Mejia-Beal.

Illustration by Caroline Hurley

To read more Sun-Times endorsements, please go to suntimes.com/political-endorsements. For more information about this race and others, including candidate questionnaires, go to our Illinois voting guide. Our newspaper is owned by a group of civic-minded and, in some cases, politically active investors; for details, see our owner information page.

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