Protecting Our Rights and Strengthening Our Future

Rachel has the experience needed - on day one - to protect Illinois and fight back against the Trump administration’s efforts to strip away funding for essential services, threaten civil rights and liberties, and favor billionaires and large corporations over everyone else. As your State Senator, Rachel will work to ensure that all Illinoisans have the opportunity to thrive.

Protecting Democracy and Fighting Back Against Trump

As a lawyer and non-profit leader, Rachel has stood up for our constitutional and civil rights, and the rule of law. She has worked to hold government agencies and bad actors accountable through civil rights and class action lawsuits, and has partnered with experts to codify our rights and freedoms in state and local laws.

  • During the first Trump administration, Rachel worked in legal aid and with her team at Heartland Alliance, fighting for immigrants, people experiencing homelessness, domestic violence survivors, and others at risk with the federal government’s cruel and reckless policies. Before Trump’s second term, Rachel led preparations for Cook County’s Offices Under the President to consider the legal and financial implications of Project 2025. She has worked tirelessly with leaders locally to prepare legal, legislative, and mutual aid responses to the invasion of ICE and abduction of our immigrant neighbors, cutting of federal food assistance, slashing of important federal grant funding, and attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

    As the only female Democratic lawyer in the State Senate, Rachel will be an important voice and bridge for the state’s legal and legislative strategies as we continue to fight and prepare for what’s next.

Expanding Affordable Health Care Access

As an advocate and policy advisor, Rachel led efforts to protect and expand access to health care, including for mental and behavioral health, in Illinois. With medical costs soaring and federal cuts looming, Rachel will continue to advocate for inclusive, equitable policies and resist efforts to restrict coverage.

  • As a young adult, Rachel battled health issues for ten years before being diagnosed with celiac disease. She knows firsthand how hard it can be to access affordable, reliable health care—and why our system must work better for working families.

    Rachel has experience expanding Medicaid access and fighting back against federal work requirements, providing healthcare services for immigrant adults, funding health programs for victims of trafficking and torture, addressing astronomical prescription drug pricing, and working toward relief for medical debt. Illinoisans can count on her to be a champion who protects and expands healthcare access and affordability, and who never shies away from bold investments and measures that address health equity.

Creating Inclusive Economic Opportunity

Rachel has pushed successfully for state legislation aimed at lifting families out of poverty, including policies to expand the earned income tax credit, abolish predatory payday loans, fund children’s savings accounts, and promote guaranteed income programs. Rachel envisions an economy that works for all Illinoisans, where no resident struggles to meet basic needs.

  • As a young person, Rachel spent summers working three jobs, saving for school and contributing to our community. She knows what it’s like to have student loan payments, face mounting health care bills, and struggle to pay rent.

    Rachel understands that the federal cuts to our social safety net programs are dire and that Illinois must find a way to step up to support vital services. She was part of the movement to enact a “fair” graduated income tax in Illinois and she will continue fighting for it, as well as other responsible and progressive revenue streams. Rachel has experience navigating the Illinois budget process, working to reform the property tax system, and moving us toward more equitable funding for communities.

Supporting Our Public Schools

Rachel has been working to support our public schools for over two decades. She spent six years at Chicago Public Schools working on technology access and digital equity issues. She also was the education staffer in the Illinois House, supporting Democrats in advancing legislation to improve our schools.

  • Rachel has had the immense privilege of attending some of the best public schools in the country, and her experiences are the foundation of her successful career. Her mother and cousins are school social workers, and her sister is a music teacher – all in public schools. With two daughters in Evanston’s public schools, and the district experiencing financial constraints and school closures over the last few years, Rachel is more motivated than ever to fix Illinois’s schools for everyone.

    Rachel will be a champion for policy solutions that allow our Illinois public schools to be stronger, better resourced, and more equitable.  She will help “Trump proof” our schools, including fully funding the state’s evidence-based formula and insulating public education from federal attacks. She supports comprehensive and inclusive sex education; LGBTQIA, immigrant, and Black history; and access to inclusive books and curriculum.

Preventing Gun Violence

Rachel is a passionate advocate for gun violence prevention. She worked to relaunch Moms Demand Action Evanston and helped pass Evanston’s firearm safe storage ordinance. While at Heartland Alliance, she supported READI Chicago’s advocacy for investments in community violence intervention programs - efforts that included street outreach, behavioral health, and employment. Rachel will continue to champion evidence-based solutions to our country’s gun violence epidemic.

  • As the only female Democratic lawyer, Rachel will be a champion in the State Senate for codifying and responding to the courts so that Illinois can continue to uphold its strong gun laws. She will be best positioned to partner with the Attorney General’s office and lawyers in the legislature on strategies for continued, commonsense gun reforms - including strategies that hold gun manufacturers accountable for senseless deaths and destruction.

Safeguarding Our State Finances

As Illinois grapples with how to respond to federal cuts and economic downturns, Rachel will work to consider our community’s budget priorities and protect our state’s financial health, including recent bond rating upgrades. She will work collaboratively and across the aisle to ensure Illinois is in a strong financial position and can meet its obligations. Rachel has worked for years with advocates in coalitions like the Responsible Budget Coalition and she will always have an open door and invite all stakeholders to discussions about the financial future of Illinois and its residents.

Expanding Access to Housing

Our property tax system is broken and our communities are becoming unaffordable. Rachel believes that no one should lose their home just because of unreasonable property tax bills. That’s why she worked to expand access to property tax freezes for seniors, to ensure they are able to remain in their homes. She’ll continue this important work in the State Senate so we have a system that works better for all of us.

Defending Reproductive and Abortion Rights

Rachel will be a champion for reproductive care and abortion rights on behalf of Illinoisans and the tens of thousands of women who have been denied care by right wing, repressive governments in other states. She will make sure Illinois never limits access - and instead expands access - to care. As the only female Democratic attorney in the State Senate, Rachel will be an important leader in codifying every protection and supporting every possible legal action.

Protecting LGBTQ+ Rights

Rachel will protect LGBTQ+ rights, including marriage equality, safe spaces in schools, and access to gender affirming care. From her anti-poverty and racial equity work through the years, Rachel understands the intersectionality of these issues and how they disproportionately affect the LGBTQ+ community. Rachel will continue to uplift directly impacted people and work to address the disparities among LGBTQ+ Illinoisans in economic, climate, and criminal justice reform policymaking.

Combating Hate and Antisemitism

Rachel has spent years working on racial equity and justice issues, and she will always speak out against white supremacy, racism, antisemitism, and all forms of hate. She will champion measures to combat hate, including supporting non-profit security grants and improving training for hate crime laws.

Building a Fairer Environmental Future

Rachel understands the critical need to address the disproportionate environmental impacts that low-income communities face.  At Cook County, Rachel supported the development of the first environmental justice policy. Rachel will work to ensure that every Illinoisan, regardless of zip code, has clean air and clean water - and that our communities are moving aggressively toward clean energy, climate resiliency, and environmental justice goals.

Reforming the Criminal Legal System

Rachel understands the intersections of systemic racism, poverty, and inequities. As Executive Director of the Family Defense Center, her team provided critical legal services to domestic violence survivors and other parents trying to keep their children and access safety and stability. She supported formerly incarcerated leaders in establishing the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments, which advocates to remove barriers and create opportunities for people with records. Rachel will always fight to center directly impacted people and build sustainable, equitable solutions.