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Clayton Cleveland

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This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Clayton Cleveland
Image of Clayton Cleveland

Libertarian Party

Elections and appointments
Last election

November 3, 2020

Education

Graduate

Drake University, 2008

Personal
Birthplace
Mokena, Ill.
Religion
Christian
Profession
Real estate asset manager
Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Clayton Cleveland (Libertarian Party) ran for election to the Illinois House of Representatives to represent District 80. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Cleveland completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Clayton Cleveland was born in Mokena, Illinois. He earned a master's degree from Drake University in 2008. His professional experience includes working as a full-time real estate asset manager and as a part-time organic farmer and inventor.[1]

Elections

2020

See also: Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Illinois House of Representatives District 80

Incumbent Anthony DeLuca defeated Clayton Cleveland in the general election for Illinois House of Representatives District 80 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Anthony DeLuca
Anthony DeLuca (D)
 
79.8
 
39,293
Image of Clayton Cleveland
Clayton Cleveland (L) Candidate Connection
 
20.2
 
9,940

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 49,233
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 80

Incumbent Anthony DeLuca advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 80 on March 17, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Anthony DeLuca
Anthony DeLuca
 
100.0
 
14,256

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 14,256
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Clayton Cleveland completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cleveland's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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I was born and raised in Mokena. I attended Providence Catholic before getting my Bachelors and Masters in Finance from Drake University in Des Moines. My wife, Jessica, and I are currently building a family and future in Monee. One of the hardest decisions that we have had to make is whether or not to live in Illinois. We have experienced the costs, hurdles, and sacrifice of just living in Illinois near family and friends vs moving to a freer and more fiscally sound state.

From a career standpoint, I have worked in finance and marketing roles in a variety of industries including trading, agriculture, insurance, and real estate. Over the past nine years, I have coached high school football and have run a non profit organization to help expand educational opportunities and college scholarships.

  • Individual Liberty is the Foundation for Strong Communities
  • A Sound Fiscal Policy is Necessary for a Sustainable Future
  • The Government should be for the Benefit of the People, not the Political Class
1. Ballot Access Reform.

In 2018, almost half of the IL House of representative races were unopposed. We are supposedly part of a representative Republic and an essential part of our government is having choices in the electoral process. Americans love having choices when it comes to the grocery stores, entertainment platforms, dining sources, but our current electoral system denies us any choice. Illinois has some of the most stringent ballot requirements of any states.
2. Eliminating Government Corruption and Creating Transparency
It is no secret that Illinois is well known for its machine politics and corruption. It is time that the government starts representing the people and not the politicians. I will push for term limits, limits on lobbying and consulting when politicians leave office, and legislative recusals when donors are involved.
3. Reducing Government Bureaucracy and Redundancy
Illinois has by far the most overlapping and taxing bodies of any state. Improving the efficiency of our government will help close the budget deficit and reduce property taxes.
4. Education Reform

Instead of trying to fit students into schools, we need to let students find schools that fit them. The government draws imaginary boxes around its citizens then tells us that our only option to seek education is within the imaginary box that they created. Parents and students need to be allowed the resources to seek the best education that fits their learning needs.
On a personal level, I will say that I have always looked up to my grandfather. He was always trying to help people, teach others, and advocated for a large variety of charities and organizations.
On a political level, I would look up to my favorite US President, Calvin Coolidge. He rooted out corruption, embodied the spirit of the middle class, reduced barriers to economic growth, and strong supporter of civil rights.
The most direct and informative book on my political philosophy is "The Road to Serfdom" by Friedrich A. Hayek. From a historical perspective, I would say "The Autobiography of Ben Franklin" would best fit my political philosophy. For the easiest read and a recommendation of how I arrived at my political beliefs would be "Animal Farm" by George Orwell.
I believe the strongest qualities for an officeholder to possess are honesty, integrity, empathy, and selflessness. While I definitely am not perfect, I try to hold myself to be the type of person that exhibits each of these traits. I think these are important not just for a successful officeholder, but a moral human.





I remember watching the Persian Gulf War on TV when I was 6 years old. I definitely did not understand the geopolitical aspects, but I remember watching the Scud missile attacks, the night vision views, and imagines of the tanks driving through the desert.
I worked for the Frankfort Park District during summers from my sophomore year of high school until my junior year of college. I was primarily on the special projects crew, which included building shelters, cutting trees, rototilling, and painting.
The Count of Monte Cristo.
The internet. It might not be the most commonly admitted addiction, but I do believe that the internet and the immediate access to information has become an addiction. I have a strong sense of curiosity and the internet can easily provide answers, so there are many times in which I feel like I immediately go online to find out what I want to know. It also can become a crutch. I will admit it is a thousand times easier to write an email or to reach out to someone online vs talking on the phone, which in itself is easier than talking in person.
My other struggle with the internet is the amount of time that it is possible to waste on the internet. It is easy to scroll for half hour or hour and essentially accomplish nothing. When I compare the time spent working outside or on my projects or with my family, I wonder how much more productive, attentive, and engaged I would be without relying on the internet.
Illinois is virtually a one party state. In Illinois, the Speaker of the House is only the leader of one legislative chamber, but unofficially the Speaker is the leader of both chambers and sometimes the Governor's mansion.
The greatest challenges for Illinois will be continued population loss, shrinking tax base, and increasing pension liabilities. Decades of financial mismanagement have jeopardized our future. We need politicians that stand up to the problem and not just keep hiding the truth.
I would support an independent panel that attempts to use existing jurisdiction borders. I do not believe that there is a magic formula for preventing gerrymandering and increasing representation of the people. In order to build a government that best reflects the views of the people, I support altering the nomination and election process. I support increasing the number of candidates that appear on the ballot within the major parties and easing restrictions that keep smaller party candidates off the ballot. I also support some version of a ranked voting system.
The committees that I would want to be on would include: Agriculture and Conservation, Financial Institutions, Insurance, Personnel & Pensions, and Revenue & Finance
I am a member of the Libertarian Party and would love if the party had strong enough results to constitute leadership positions within the legislation. There are some great Libertarian candidates on the ballot this year and if we get the opportunity to serve, it will be a huge step towards correcting the course for Illinois.
I do not know. A lot of political life does not appeal to me. I am running for office because Illinois has become unlivable for a large percentage of us. I am running because Illinois politicians have placed such high hurdles on its citizens. I am running because I can see the type of people that our current system entices. I do not know what my political future holds, I just know we can't keep doing what we are doing.
There were several stories within a specific theme that have had the strongest impact on me. The recurring theme from constituents was that they have people in their lives that they have stopped speaking to because of political beliefs. I had a mother tell me that she was unable to talk to her son because of her son's beliefs and I had several people say that they have lost friends because of the current political climate. Politicians should not have that much control over our lives that people abandon those that actually care about them. The primary factor that is driving a wedge between family and friends is that politicians and people will use government to hurt others. The role of the politician should be to convince people to give, but many politicians use their status to convince people to take. The involuntary nature of the political environments fuels division and hate.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Footnotes

  1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 26, 2020


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