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Jason Gonzales
Jason Gonzales was a 2016 Democratic candidate for District 22 of the Illinois House of Representatives.
Elections
2016
Elections for the Illinois House of Representatives were held in 2016. 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.[1]
Incumbent Michael J. Madigan ran unopposed in the Illinois House of Representatives District 22 general election.[2][3]
| Illinois House of Representatives, District 22 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic |  Michael J. Madigan Incumbent (unopposed) | |
| Source: Illinois State Board of Elections | ||
Incumbent Michael J. Madigan defeated Jason Gonzales, Grasiela Rodriguez and Joe Barboza in the Illinois House of Representatives District 22 Democratic primary.[4][5]
| Illinois House of Representatives, District 22 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Michael J. Madigan Incumbent |
65.18% | 17,155 | |
| Democratic | Jason Gonzales | 27.07% | 7,124 | |
| Democratic | Grasiela Rodriguez | 5.79% | 1,523 | |
| Democratic | Joe Barboza | 1.97% | 518 | |
| Total Votes | 26,320 | |||
2016 primary
- Main article: Battleground Illinois primary elections, 2016
Race background
NBC Chicago's politics blog Ward Room featured the District 22 race in its twice-weekly column "Race to Watch." Gonzales touted his story of having "non-violent run-ins with the law" as a teenager to becoming a graduate of Harvard University and MIT.[6][7]
Madigan may have helped or encouraged other candidates file for the primary in order to dilute support for his challenger. As Gonzales filed petition signatures to get on the primary ballot in 2016, a Madigan campaign aide, Shaw Decremer, filed signed petitions for the remaining two candidates, Joe Barboza and Grasiela Rodriguez, neither of whom had a campaign website.[8]
A similar event occurred in 2012, according to the Chicago Tribune. Madigan faced Michele Piszczor in the Democratic primary that year, which also included other candidates on the ballot who did not campaign. Madigan won the primary that year with 75 percent of the vote.[6][8]
Gonzales said the tactic would not make a difference in the 2016 primary. "Diluting the ballot is the oldest trick in the book, but we don’t believe it’s going to change things very drastically," Gonzales said in an interview with Ward Room.[6]
Gonzales was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune over Madigan. "He has resources and money—some from reform-minded donors who support redistricting and term limits, and some from supporters of Gov. Bruce Rauner who are tired of Madigan's iron grip on state government," the paper stated.[9]
Campaign finance
Illinois United for Change, a political action committee whose purpose is "to support reform-minded candidates and other political movements in Illinois," spent over $100,000 in support of Gonzales. Under Illinois campaign finance law, this action removes limits on campaign spending and allows committees to raise unlimited funds leading up to the election, which means Madigan's committee, Friends of Michael J. Madigan, was also permitted to raise unlimited funds.[10]
Blair Hull, a Democrat who ran against then-state Sen. Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary in 2004, is a major donor to Illinois United for Change. Most of the money Hull gave to the group went toward ads against Madigan and in support of Gonzales.[11]
Campaign themes
2016
Gonzales' website highlighted the following campaign themes:
| “ | Economic Development The 22nd District needs development, with Midway Airport in the district, it provides a huge market of potential consumers, who can spend money within or community. This will allow the potential to create many good paying jobs for people living in our community. If elected, I will work to: 1. Create an advanced manufacturing cluster and job training center Property Tax Reform Crime & Safety 1. Restore funding caused by the budget holdout to the community and social services organizations that help combat and prevent crime in the 22nd District Job Training and Higher Education 1. Integrate vocational training in our community colleges The cost of higher education continues to rise and has become unattainable and unaffordable for too many young people in our community. We have too many people graduating college with crippling debt. The costs of higher education should not prevent those who have the ability and drive to attend college. We need to make the right choices to ensure that we continue to be the place of opportunity. Presence Constituent Services |
” |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Jason Gonzales Illinois. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Illinois House of Representatives
- Illinois House of Representatives District 22
- Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2016
- Illinois State Legislature
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Election and Campaign Finance Calendar," accessed November 30, 2015
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate list: General Election - 11/8/2016," accessed August 8, 2016
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Election results, General election 2016," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate Filing Search," accessed January 3, 2016
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Election Results: GENERAL PRIMARY - 3/15/2016," accessed August 8, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 NBC Chicago, "Race to Watch: Illinois House of Representatives District 22," February 23, 2016
- ↑ Jason for Illinois, "My story," accessed March 11, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chicago Tribune, "Editorial: Michael Madigan vs. somebody," January 15, 2016
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Chicago Tribune endorsements for the Illinois House," February 29, 2016
- ↑ NBC Chicago, "Tribune Endorses Newcomer Jason Gonzales Over Michael Madigan for State Rep," March 2, 2016
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Speaker Madigan gets a challenge, for a change," March 11, 2016
- ↑ Jason Gonzales, "Local Issues," accessed February 27, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
