Darnell Leatherwood
Darnell Leatherwood (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 1st Congressional District. He did not appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary on March 17, 2020.
Leatherwood completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.
Elections
2020
See also: Illinois' 1st Congressional District election, 2020
Illinois' 1st Congressional District election, 2020 (March 17 Democratic primary)
Illinois' 1st Congressional District election, 2020 (March 17 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Illinois District 1
Incumbent Bobby Rush defeated Philanise White and Ruth Pellegrini in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 1 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Bobby Rush (D) | 73.8 | 239,943 |
 | Philanise White (R) | 26.2 | 85,027 | |
 | Ruth Pellegrini (Independent) (Write-in)  | 0.0 | 153 | |
| Total votes: 325,123 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1
Incumbent Bobby Rush defeated Sarah Gad, Robert Emmons Jr., and Ameena Nuur Matthews in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1 on March 17, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bobby Rush | 71.5 | 94,863 |
 | Sarah Gad | 10.4 | 13,783 | |
 | Robert Emmons Jr. | 10.3 | 13,628 | |
| Ameena Nuur Matthews | 7.8 | 10,409 | ||
| Total votes: 132,683 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Robert Palmer (D)
- Darnell Leatherwood (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1
Philanise White advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1 on March 17, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Philanise White | 100.0 | 10,134 |
| Total votes: 10,134 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jimmy Lee Tillman II (R)
- John Wassenaar (R)
- Lynn Franco (R)
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Darnell Leatherwood completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Leatherwood's responses.
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
We will continue to strengthen our capacities to leverage resources and opportunities for others. Therefore, we are passionate about public policies that speak directly to the needs of the people and aid in there ability to live their best lives.
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?
I look up to Jesus Christ. He is a wonderful example of how servant leadership can change the world.
Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?
I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle -Charles Payne
What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?
Love Respect Honor Integrity The Capacity to Communicate
What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?
The represent the interest of the people and to exercise wisdom by doing what is best for the people.
If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?
Batman or Black Panther
Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?
No. What I will posit here is that I believe it is beneficial for a representative to have previous experience "serving" others.
What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?
I will need to gather the thoughts and perspectives of the people in order to best answer this question. That siad, whatever answers we decide upon, I look forward to us solving them together.
What are your thoughts on term limits?
I believe term limits may serve a beneficial role, via the context of potentially providing the opportunity for new and innovative leadership.
Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?
No
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.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
