Election day was Nov. 8, 2022. Now that most of the votes have been counted and projections are in, let’s take a look at what a few winners had to say about their campaign.

     Mary Edly-Allen is a former teacher who ran for the Illinois State Senate in this election for the Democratic party for District 31. According to the Illinois State Board of Elections she won her race. Edly-Allen said she helped with Barack Obama’s campaign back in 2006. She says she was motivated by Obama’s idea that if you don’t like how things are, you should run for office yourself. This is exactly how she felt in 2016 when former president Donald Trump was elected. She also said that it was a natural progression as she had experience as a PTO president.

     Edly-Allen explained the need for young people to get involved in politics. “Young people can do everything and there’s no age that’s too young to  participate in their community,” said Edly-Allen. “That’s where I think both parties, Republican and Democratic need to make space for new ideas and young people,” she said.

     She explained how young people should think about what motivates them to help get them involved. “What motivates you? Is it common sense gun laws? Is it the environment, is it something different?” she said. 

     She expressed a sense of urgency about climate change. “I know, we just passed the Clean Energy Jobs Act, which is huge  and it puts us on a path to green energy, but I just feel a sense of urgency that we need to be doing a lot more, a lot faster.”  She adds a more local point about trains

in Grayslake. “The trains and the intersections between the streets and the railroad tracks and we need to have some more grade separations.”

Laura Faver Dias is also a former teacher, who ran for Illinois State House as the Democratic candidate for the 62nd District.  She also won her race according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.  Faver Dias believes that every level of government directly affects people’s lives. She explained how she felt that she could represent people in Springfield. Favor Dias was a local trustee. “I’ve seen how levels of government need to work together,” Favor Dias continued. “The way our system is or the way our education is currently funded, is based on local property taxes. Communities that are more affluent that have larger homes that have more expensive homes. Those school districts get more money for their schools. I don’t think that’s right.” 

 Just like Marry Edly-Allen, Faver Dias expressed the need for young people to get involved. “ I think it’s so important that young people are involved.” She explained how young people are important and relevant to the future. She had a lot of young people within her campaign. “Young people turned out in record numbers in this election and I think that’s so important. I think young people are invested in this country, in the state, in our communities, because they are leading us to the future. So I think it’s really important that we have direct engagement of young people and really value their input and their voices.” Faver Dias said.