Montelle Gaji - Ballotpedia

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Montelle Gaji (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 1st Congressional District. She lost in the Republican primary on March 19, 2024.

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

Biography

Montelle Gaji was born in Chicago, Illinois. Gaji's career experience includes working as a politician. She earned a bachelor's degree from Chicago State University in 2010.^[1]

Elections

2024

See also: Illinois' 1st Congressional District election, 2024

Illinois' 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (March 19 Republican primary)

Illinois' 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (March 19 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 1

Incumbent Jonathan Jackson defeated Marcus Lewis in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 1 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jonathan Jackson (D)	65.8	208,398
		Marcus Lewis (R)	34.1	108,064
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	45

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 316,507
= 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 U.S. House Illinois District 1

Incumbent Jonathan Jackson advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1 on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jonathan Jackson	100.0	72,420

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 72,420
= 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 U.S. House Illinois District 1

Marcus Lewis defeated Montelle Gaji in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1 on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marcus Lewis	80.0	15,282
		Montelle Gaji	20.0	3,814

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 19,096
= 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.

Endorsements

Gaji received the following endorsements.

The Chicago Tribune Editorial Board

2022

See also: Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Illinois House of Representatives District 5

Incumbent Lamont Robinson Jr. won election in the general election for Illinois House of Representatives District 5 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lamont Robinson Jr. (D)	100.0	23,847

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 23,847
= 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 Fortune (R)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 5

Incumbent Lamont Robinson Jr. advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 5 on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lamont Robinson Jr.	100.0	10,198

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,198
= 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

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Montelle Gaji (R)

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

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

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a disabled full time mother to 3 children with special needs. I have 13 years of special needs advocacy and 3 years of social and civil advocacy. I previously ran for Illinois State Representative and Mayor of Chicago.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Be the change you want to see.
Change is possible, as a Congresswoman I can't make any changes without getting my district fully involved in that process.
Transparency is the key to true " change"!

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Civil rights and small government.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

The qualities of effective leadership include courage, strength, the ability to communicate effectively, knowledge, judgment, integrity, and interpersonal skills. A particularly important quality is vision, along with the power to implement that vision.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am resilient and fearless

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To represent the interests of the people in their congressional district or state.

What legacy would you like to leave?

A legacy of a true advocate for the American people.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Camp counselor for a summer camp.

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

The House is the only branch of government that has been directly elected by American voters since its formation in 1789. Unlike the Senate, the House is not a continuing body.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

No a lot of great politicians have come from grass roots.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

The emergence of the New World Order

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

No, it should be longer

What are your thoughts on term limits?

I am in favor of term limits

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

No

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Compromise is the key to true bipartisanship.

The Constitution says that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House. What role would this power play in your priorities if elected?

It would give me the opportunity to show voters in my district where thier taxes are being spent.

How should the U.S. House use its investigative powers?

Included within the scope of the power is the authority to initiate investigations, hold hearings, gather testimony or documents from witnesses, and, in situations where either a government or private party is not forthcoming, compel compliance with congressional requests through the issuance and enforcement of subpoenas

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

https://twitter.com/chicagotribune/status/1760714453958427038

What committees interest you?

Finance and Govermental Affairs

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

It necessary for true development and change!

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

Montelle Gaji 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.

Montelle Gaji campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	U.S. House Illinois District 1	Lost primary	$0	N/A**
Grand total			$0	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 from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

See also

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

U.S. House Illinois District 1

Personal

Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 7, 2024

Illinois' current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Tammy Duckworth (D)

Dick Durbin (D)

Representatives

District 1

Jonathan Jackson (D)

District 2

Robin Kelly (D)

District 3

Delia Ramirez (D)

District 4

Jesus Garcia (D)

District 5

Mike Quigley (D)

District 6

Sean Casten (D)

District 7

Danny Davis (D)

District 8

Raja Krishnamoorthi (D)

District 9

Jan Schakowsky (D)

District 10

Brad Schneider (D)

District 11

Bill Foster (D)

District 12

Mike Bost (R)

District 13

Nikki Budzinski (D)

District 14

Lauren Underwood (D)

District 15

Mary Miller (R)

District 16

Darin LaHood (R)

District 17

Eric Sorensen (D)

Democratic Party (16)

Republican Party (3)

	v • e State of Illinois Springfield (capital)
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