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Heather Steans

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Heather Steans
Image of Heather Steans

Democratic Party

Prior offices
Illinois State Senate District 7
Successor: Mike Simmons

Education

Bachelor's

Princeton University

Graduate

Harvard University

Contact

Campaign website

Heather Steans (Democratic Party) was a member of the Illinois State Senate, representing District 7. She assumed office in 2008. She left office on January 31, 2021.

Steans (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Illinois State Senate to represent District 7. She won in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Steans resigned on January 31, 2021, stating, "it's time for fresh faces and new energy."[1]

Biography

Heather Sterns was born on May 8, 1963 in Lake Forest, IL. She received her B.A. in urban studies from Princeton University. She went on to receive her M.A. in public policy from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. As of November 2019, her professional experience included working as the strategic planning director for Chicago Public Schools and budget director for the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.[2]

Committee assignments

2019-2020

Steans was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Illinois committee assignments, 2017
• Appropriations I, Chair
• Appropriations II, Vice chair
• Committee of the Whole
• Environment and Conservation
• Executive
• Government Reform
• Human Services

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Steans served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Steans served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Steans served on these committees:

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Steans served on these committees:[3]

Issues

Medicaid

The Illinois Senate approved a Medicaid measure projected to save $800 million during the next five years.

House Bill 5420 would move half of the state’s 2.8 million Medicaid participants into “coordinated” or managed care between 2011 and 2015. This is a far stretch from the 195,000 participants who now are assigned to a primary “medical home.”

Lawmakers had to tighten the $14 billion state-federal health care system in December and were still hashing out the details in early January 2011.

“This is probably not a bill that any one of us on this committee would write. But that’s the nature of compromise,” said Steans. “I think where we are and what we’re going to see, though, is something that really does put the state and our Medicaid system in a much better place down the line.”

In 2014, low-income single adults will be eligible to enroll for the federal option, so all states are slated with the task of working out their end of the details. State Sen. Dale Righter said the proposal will return the “struggling” program to a safety net for the poor, instead of a catch-all for the potentially ineligible.

“It’s struggling for the people who need it the worst,” he said. “We’re talking about the people who are on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder, the people for whom access is a truly critical issue. The people who aren’t mobile. People who can’t drive two hours and take a day off because it’s not a big deal to make sure that their child can get to a medical provider.”[4]

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2020

See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Illinois State Senate District 7

Incumbent Heather Steans won election in the general election for Illinois State Senate District 7 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Heather Steans
Heather Steans (D)
 
100.0
 
90,009

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

Total votes: 90,009
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 State Senate District 7

Incumbent Heather Steans advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 7 on March 17, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Heather Steans
Heather Steans
 
100.0
 
47,121

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

Total votes: 47,121
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.

2016

See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for District 7 of the Illinois State Senate took place in 2016. Incumbent Heather Steans was unopposed in the Democratic primary. No Republican candidates filed for election.[5][6]

The primary election was held on March 15, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was November 30, 2015.

2012

See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2012

Steans won re-election in the 2012 election for Illinois State Senate District 7. She was unopposed in the Democratic Primary on March 20[7][8] and was unopposed in the general election on November 6, 2012.[9]

Illinois State Senate, District 7, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngHeather Steans Incumbent 100% 67,690
Total Votes 67,690

2010

See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2010

Steans won re-election to the 7th District Seat in the Illinois State Senate against Democrat Adam Robinson. The election took place on November 2, 2010.[10]

Illinois State Senate, District 7 (2010)
Candidates Votes Percent
Green check mark transparent.png Heather Steans (D) 41,214 83.69%
Adam Robinson (R) 8,030 16.31%

Steans was challenged by Jim Madigan in the Democratic primary election on February 2nd.[11]

2008

On November 4, 2008, Democrat Heather Steans won re-election to the Illinois State Senate District 7 receiving 55,457 votes, ahead of Tom Durkin (13,190 votes).[12]


Illinois State Senate, District 7 (2008)
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Heather Steans (D) 55,457
Tom Durkin (G) 13,190

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Heather Steans did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Heather Steans campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2020Illinois State Senate District 7Won general$550,662 N/A**
2016Illinois State Senate, District 7Won $484,229 N/A**
2012Illinois State Senate, District 7Won $188,012 N/A**
2010Illinois State Senate, District 7Won $412,161 N/A**
2008Illinois State Senate, District 7Won $322,596 N/A**
Grand total$1,957,660 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Illinois

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Illinois scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


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2017


2016


2015


2014


2013


2012

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

As of February 3, 2021, Heather and her husband, Leo, had three children.

See also

2020 Elections

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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ ABC 7, "State Senator Heather Steans announces resignation effective Jan. 31," January 19, 2021
  2. ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "Senator Heather A. Steans (D)," accessed November 10, 2019
  3. ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "List of Illinois Senate Committees," July 28, 2009
  4. ↑ "Senate passes ‘bold’ Medicaid reform; measure heads to House," Illinois Statehouse News, January 5, 2011
  5. ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate Filing Search," accessed January 3, 2016
  6. ↑ Chicago Tribune, "2016 Illinois primary results," accessed March 15, 2016
  7. ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate List," accessed December 5, 2011
  8. ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Official 2012 Primary Results," accessed May 14, 2014
  9. ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, “Official Vote - November 6, 2012 General Election,” accessed December 31, 2012
  10. ↑ Illinois Board of Elections, "2010 Illinois General Election Results," November 2, 2010
  11. ↑ Illinois Democratic Party, "2010 Illinois Primary Election Results," February 3, 2010
  12. ↑ Follow the Money, "Illinois Senate election results for 2008," November 4, 2008
  13. ↑ Citizen Action Illinois, "99th General Assembly Legislative Scorecard 2016," accessed July 11, 2017
  14. ↑ Illinois Parents of Adults with Developmental Disabilities, "2016 Illinois Community Living Report," accessed July 11, 2017
Political offices
Preceded by
' 		Illinois Senate District 7
2008–2021 		Succeeded by
Mike Simmons (D)


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