So many people helped with this campaign, but there are a few stand-outs who must be thanked with extra enthusiasm — Kelly O’Keefe, who came to me after an Oak Park Progressive Women’s meeting and told me, “You should run for office,” IL State Rep. Theresa Mah, who took time out of her incredibly busy schedule to come and talk me through the the process of running for office, and my children, who put up with Mommy being gone quite a few extra evenings the last four months. The kids were VERY excited tonight.
But most of all, thanks to my partner, Kevin Whyte, who in addition to listening to my worries, took on a lot of extra childcare.
Someone asked me how much this campaign cost, and we didn’t actually spend any of our own money — we raised over $7000, mostly in small donations of around $25-$50 from a lot of people. But we did spend an immense amount of time, and if I’d had to pay cash for all the childcare that Kevin took on, I’m not sure I could afforded the run.
So shout-out to all the campaign widows and widowers, and let’s keep thinking about how we can work to make campaigning and running for office possible for those people who don’t necessarily have that kind of support network built in. I ran on a platform of access and equity — it’s not just important for the library. We have to fight for those things across the board if we want to see real change.