In January 2024, Chicago Sun-Times/WBEZ editors emailed a questionnaire to candidates in contested March 19 primary races for the Illinois General Assembly, requesting biographical information as well as their views on issues ranging from corruption in state politics to Illinois’ longstanding pension crisis. Answers have been lightly edited for typos, minor grammar and consistency in styling, but not for content or length. Age was calculated as of Feb. 6, 2024.
Arad Boxenbaum: Right now, public confidence in our elected officials is low. We need wide-ranging ethics reforms in order to help restore that confidence and improve transparency from our government. Our elected officials need to be held more accountable, and political campaigns need to be fairer so the public can have more influence on who is elected.
In terms of specific reforms, first and foremost, we must immediately implement 10-year term limits for legislative leadership, so we never have another Madigan-like scenario. We also need to strengthen our revolving door ban on lobbying by former legislators, increasing the time they cannot lobby to at least 2 years after leaving office. As for political campaigns, political party leadership committees can currently transfer much larger amounts of money than those of individual candidates. This is wrong; these higher limits allow for many elections to effectively be decided before the voters have a chance to explore their options. We need to minimize the amount of money in politics, and I would like to see publicly funded elections someday, so everyone has an equal playing field.
Arad Boxenbaum: It is critical that we maintain our strong pension system, while promptly addressing the massive liability that remains. In so many professions, whether educators, government employees, or some other profession, promises of a stable, solid pension are made, and could not be fulfilled through a 401(k) or other retirement plan. The state needs to keep its existing pension promises while also not weakening future pension promises. If these pensions are reduced, we will lose essential, valuable workers.
The most effective way to solve our pension crisis is to institute a tax on the ultra-wealthy — those making at least $400,000 annually, if not more, only on the income beyond that threshold. A similar example, which was specific to public education, is a referendum passed by Massachusetts voters, in which those whose annual income was over $1 million had an additional 4% imposed on any income beyond $1 million. Those funds led to about $1.5 billion per year going toward public education; we can pass a similar referendum to fund our pension system.
Arad Boxenbaum: We currently face shortages of educators and healthcare workers, both in my district and across the state. It is imperative that we improve funding in these areas, and continue to strengthen our pension system so people feel confident that they will be able to achieve financial stability while going into these professions. Furthermore, we need subsidies to incentivize more people of color to go into these professions, including to address the often prohibitive educational costs.
I am also committed to working with county and local governments in my district to advocate for the hiring of local contractors to perform services, and that those services be union labor, as much as possible. It is critical that with development in our communities comes prosperity for working people in those same communities.
More generally, and especially in rural areas, we need to increase accessibility of healthcare, and do what we can to incentivize healthcare workers to accept jobs in rural communities while still earning a living wage.
Arad Boxenbaum: Yes, absolutely. Our district maps should not be based on partisan agendas, but rather what best represents the voters.
Fair maps also provide for higher-quality representation by our elected officials. With more compact districts, elected officials can be more present throughout their entire districts, and they can more effectively collaborate with other officials (for instance, state legislators working with local or county officials) to deliver results for their constituents. For example, my district contains 9 municipalities, and not a single one of them is entirely in my district; many other districts are much more spread out. I am prepared to remain present across my entire district, and to work with representatives in neighboring districts to collaborate with local governments; however, this split is not ideal.
Arad Boxenbaum: After knocking on nearly 15,000 doors since June 2023 and speaking to thousands of residents of the district, I have found that the issue which comes up the most is gun violence prevention. This is an issue that impacts every facet of our lives — people live in fear of going to school and sending their children to school, of going to parades, of going to crowded workplaces, really anywhere — due to the current epidemic of gun violence. It has touched my community, with the 2019 Henry Pratt shooting in Aurora. The gun violence crisis impacts people everywhere — regardless of income, zip code, race, or socioeconomic status. It also intersects with so many other policy issues, including equity in education and healthcare.
Great progress has been made in this area with the passage of the assault weapons ban and legislation to hold gun manufacturers accountable, but we have a long way to go. Laws surrounding safe gun storage need to be strengthened; far too often people, especially children, are losing their lives because guns were not locked up. We also should continue to pass stronger red flag laws, particularly focused on keeping guns out of the hands of people with histories of domestic violence or mental illness. Furthermore, we need to ensure those red flag laws are more closely followed, so that people like the shooter in Highland Park, who had a clear history of mental illness and violent behavior, never access guns in the first place. We also need to combat gun trafficking across state lines; most illegal guns in Illinois came in from other states with weaker gun laws.
Arad Boxenbaum: I am the only candidate in this race who, prior to holding an elected office, had extensive experience organizing for our shared Democratic values, primarily gun violence prevention organizing and advocacy for related legislation. I also have done advocacy related to protecting the right to choose and LGBTQ+ equality, and have worked for or with 4 Democratic members of Congress. It is important that we elect a true fighter for Democratic values to this seat.
As a member of the Geneva Library Board, I spearheaded the overhaul and implementation of an improved diversity, equity, and inclusion policy for the library. This included beginning to create a Spanish language collection, more inclusive programming, and a safe gun storage provision on library property.
It is also critical that we elect someone with significant experience performing constituent services, a vital part of the job of a state legislator. When I worked in Congressman Mike Quigley’s office, my primary responsibility was constituent services. My opponent, on the other hand, took many months to hire staff after taking office — meaning there were no constituent services for our community. I am the only candidate in this race who is committed to being a full-time legislator — something our community badly needs after constituent services have been historically neglected by the current and previous representatives.
My opponent, in his first term, has been disappointing in numerous other ways. Among other things, he:
Accepted a campaign contribution closely tied to an anti-choice Republican politician;
Refused to stand up to elected officials opposing the assault weapons ban;
Placed the community in danger and violated the law by driving with a BAC nearly 2.5 times the legal limit (to which he pleaded guilty to DUI);
Has taken numerous anti-environment votes.
We can do better, and we must do better. I am ready to hit the ground running on day 1 and deliver results as a full-time legislator. Some of the top issues I will advocate for include gun violence prevention, labor rights, protecting access to essential reproductive healthcare, ethics reform, protecting the environment, and equity in education. My specific goals for my first term include exploring ways to enshrine abortion rights into the state Constitution through a referendum on the 2026 ballot, strengthening our red flag laws, and working to address local air quality issues due to manufacturing plants in the district.
