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James Garfield (Illinois)
James Garfield (Democratic Party) (also known as Jimmy) ran for election to the Illinois House of Representatives to represent District 12. He lost in the Democratic primary on March 17, 2020.
Garfield completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
James Garfield was born in Evanston, Illinois. He obtained an undergraduate degree from DePaul University in June 2008 and a J.D. from the DePaul University College of Law in May 2016. Garfield is an attorney. As of 2020, he was an alumni and volunteer with Mikva Challenge, a former mentor for the Juvenile Justice Legal Mentoring Initiative, and affiliated with the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Illinois House of Representatives District 12
Margaret Croke won election in the general election for Illinois House of Representatives District 12 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Margaret Croke (D) | 100.0 | 52,483 |
| Total votes: 52,483 | |||
 = 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 Illinois House of Representatives District 12
Margaret Croke defeated incumbent Yoni Pizer, James Garfield, Ryan Podges, and Marty Malone in the Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 12 on March 17, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Margaret Croke | 45.8 | 12,380 |
 | Yoni Pizer | 41.4 | 11,168 | |
 | James Garfield | 6.1 | 1,652 | |
 | Ryan Podges | 3.9 | 1,061 | |
| Marty Malone | 2.7 | 741 | ||
| Total votes: 27,002 | |||
| = 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Sara Feigenholtz (D)
- Kimberly Walz (D)
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
James Garfield completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Garfield's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- We cannot have the progressive policies that we need in Illinois so long as we leave the corrupt system in place. We must call it out for what it is, and refuse to simply accept it.
- Everything is connected. For example, expanding mental healthcare isn't simply about that issue; it also impacts homelessness, criminal justice reform, and economic opportunity.
- Leadership takes courage. I'm the only candidate who, from the very beginning, has said that I don't care how much more difficult it will make the process, I will face this corruption head on, and refuse to perpetuate the system.
Fixing corruption in our government, so that we have a government that works for the people, and not just the wealthy and lobbyists.
Expanding healthcare, because I believe that healthcare is a human right, and I believe that it isn't truly healthcare if it doesn't include your teeth, your eyes, and your mind; universal healthcare is the way we must go, and if the federal government can't get it together soon enough, then Illinois should go ahead and do it itself.
Protecting the environment - not just because we all need clean water and air to live - but also because this district sits along the lakefront, and we are watching as more of it erodes out from under us every day. Moreover, investing in new green technologies will mean thousands of new, good paying jobs that can't be outsourced, and will be a massive economic boon to Illinois.
Criminal justice reform, because as someone who was in the State's Attorney's Office, I've seen firsthand just how broken the system is, causing more recidivism and societal problems that it should or needs to. I've also worked with juvenile justice programs to try and steer youth away from criminal paths, and toward more positive and productive ones.
I also see government not as a position for the elites who can be trusted to take care of everything for us, but rather as a position that should work to bridge the gap between government and people. That requires innovation and new ideas for how to do that, and I already have several options in mind.
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
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 7, 2020
