It’s not often that a first-time candidate for elective office is as prepared as Samantha Simpson to step in and do the job.
Simpson is a born-and-raised South Sider with an impressive academic record — a master’s degree from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Johns Hopkins University. During her high school years, she commuted every day — an hour and a half each way — to Loyola Academy in Wilmette.
For six years, Simpson was a senior manager at the fledgling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She helped write regulations and set the agenda for the agency, which was established in 2011 to protect American consumers against the worst business abuses identified during the 2008 financial crisis.
For two years prior to that, Simpson was communications and policy manager for the Ohio attorney general’s office.
As a state representative, Simpson says, she would focus on property tax relief, improved state funding for public schools and local business development.
We endorse Simpson over incumbent Rep. Mary E. Flowers.
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