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Maria Peterson

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Maria Peterson
Image of Maria Peterson
Elections and appointments
Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

High school

Proviso West High School

Bachelor's

Loyola University Chicago, 1985

Law

The John Marshall Law School, 1989

Personal
Birthplace
Oak Park, Ill.
Religion
Non-Denominational
Profession
Community organizer
Contact

Maria Peterson (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Illinois House of Representatives to represent District 52. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Peterson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Maria Peterson was born in Oak Park, Illinois. Peterson's career experience includes working as a community organizer, attorney, and small business owner. She earned a law degree from The John Marshall Law School in 1989 and a bachelor's degree from the Loyola University Chicago in 1985.[1]

Elections

2024

See also: Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Illinois House of Representatives District 52

Incumbent Martin McLaughlin defeated Maria Peterson in the general election for Illinois House of Representatives District 52 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Martin McLaughlin
Martin McLaughlin (R)
 
50.0
 
29,520
Image of Maria Peterson
Maria Peterson (D) Candidate Connection
 
50.0
 
29,473

Total votes: 58,993
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 52

Maria Peterson advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 52 on March 19, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Maria Peterson
Maria Peterson Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
5,617

Total votes: 5,617
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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 52

Incumbent Martin McLaughlin advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 52 on March 19, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Martin McLaughlin
Martin McLaughlin
 
100.0
 
4,773

Total votes: 4,773
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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Campaign finance

Endorsements

Peterson received the following endorsements.

2022

See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Illinois State Senate District 26

Incumbent Dan McConchie defeated Maria Peterson in the general election for Illinois State Senate District 26 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Dan McConchie
Dan McConchie (R)
 
50.2
 
44,632
Image of Maria Peterson
Maria Peterson (D)
 
49.8
 
44,247

Total votes: 88,879
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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 26

Maria Peterson advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 26 on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Maria Peterson
Maria Peterson
 
100.0
 
15,528

Total votes: 15,528
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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 26

Incumbent Dan McConchie advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 26 on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Dan McConchie
Dan McConchie
 
100.0
 
15,443

Total votes: 15,443
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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Maria Peterson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Peterson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am a first generation born Latina, born and raised in Illinois. I earned a double major in Criminal Justice and Organizational Communications from Loyola University of Chicago (1985), and my J.D. from the John Marshall Law School (1989) and was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1989. My career experience includes litigating workplace safety and health violations, including death; as well as, representing Black Lung victims who were being denied their Black Lung benefits from the coal mining companies they worked for while I was an attorney for the U.S. Department of Labor. I also worked on promoting a program within the Illinois State Treasurer’s office to encourage future first-time home owners to save for a downpayment. I was also a small business owner for 20 years. In addition, I have served my community in various positions including: Board member of the Citizens Utility Board, parent representative for a Local School Council for a Chicago Public School, board member for the North Barrington Planning, Building & Development Committee, Past president of the Barrington Rotary Club, and currently as Vice-Chair of the Lake County Zoning Board of Appeals
  • As a trained and experienced mediator and negotiator I commit to bringing the people that need to be at the table to talk through the issues and jointly resolve problems.
  • I will serve as a full-time State Representative to all 109,000 residents. I will be their eyes, ears and voice in Springfield, and listen intently with the purpose of serving them in my best capacity.
  • I am running to protect womens’ rights, reproductive healthcare, the environment, and to continue to enhance gun violence prevention laws here in Illinois - to name a few of the key issues.
I am personally passionate about protecting our public schools and that any taxpayer money earmarked for public schools go just to public schools. I am also passionate about affordable housing. The purchase of a single family home is the stepping stone to generational wealth; however, there is a shortage of affordable housing. Another public policy I am passionate about is protecting worker’s rights - whether to organize to collectively bargain or to ensure fair living wages and affordable healthcare.
I think the most important characteristics of an elected official are to be ethical and maintain a high level of integrity. Elected officials and candidates do no service to anyone when trying to be a chameleon. It’s very simple: follow the laws, uphold the laws, set the example of being a good and honest citizen, and to not be afraid to admit when you don’t know a particular subject, but submit to a willingness to get educated on the topic to have a knowledgeable and coherent conversation.

The qualities I possess that I believe would make me a successful officeholder are: I am a good listener to all who wish to talk to me. I don’t discount anyone because I believe everyone has something to offer. I am compassionate with those that struggle to make their lives better, as I too saw my own parents struggling as they themselves started with very little to living a healthy and vibrant middle class life of which I was a beneficiary of. I believe there is a solution to every problem and oftentimes it takes lots of negotiation and compromise for the problem to be solved. I am willing to admit that I may not know a particular subject, but if need be, I am all in to learn about the subject matter at hand if it is beneficial for my constituents, district, and the state.

Well there are several historical events that have happened in my time. The one that strikes me the most is the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 because I was in one of the World Trade Center Towers in June, 1992. I was 30 years old in awe at the massive height of the twin towers and amazed at how many people worked in these buildings. At the time of these attacks I was 38 years old, and I could not fathom how or why someone would plan such a heinous and destructive act, and I was trying to figure out how I was going to talk to my boys about this terrible human act.

I have several stories, but this one is fresh - just today. I met a school nurse who told me how the school librarian was doxxed by a member of Moms 4 Liberty and eventually resigned because the librarian could not take the offenses lobbed at her. The nurse also told me how they walk a fine line in advice they give to their students walking into their office seeking reproductive healthcare suggestions, because the students don’t feel comfortable or safe asking their parents. It’s a fine line because this nurse told me that parents call them anonymously asking questions about what kind of advice they are giving to students.
This is concerning because public servants just want to do their jobs of being a school librarian or school nurse without the fear of being doxxed/cyber bullied. Doxxing and/or cyber bullying is harassment met to create harm, and not only does this need to stop, there should be stronger laws to protect those from these cyber attacks.

AFL-CIO, Citizen Action, Equality IL, IL NOW, Personal PAC, Planned Parenthood IL Action, Teamsters Local 301, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Congressman Bill Foster, Congressman Sean Casten, Congressman Brad Schneider, Congressman Mike Quigley, Congressman Chuy Garcia, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthy

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.

2022

Maria Peterson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 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.


Maria Peterson campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Illinois House of Representatives District 52Lost general$633,773 $222,104
2022Illinois State Senate District 26Lost general$564,883 $435,190
Grand total$1,198,656 $657,294
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 20, 2024


Current members of the Illinois House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Emanuel Welch
Majority Leader:Robyn Gabel
Minority Leader:Tony McCombie
Representatives
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District 32
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Mary Gill (D)
District 36
Rick Ryan (D)
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
Amy Grant (R)
District 48
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District 51
District 52
District 53
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Tom Weber (R)
District 65
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Jed Davis (R)
District 76
Amy Briel (D)
District 77
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Amy Elik (R)
District 112
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Democratic Party (78)
Republican Party (40)