The Illinois House of Representatives’ 8th District covers Chicago’s West Side, along with Brookfield, Forest Park, North Riverside, Oak Park and Proviso Township.
The battle for the two-year term for the state House seat will be between La Shawn Ford, who has represented the 8th District since 2007, and real estate agent Leslie Collazo.
Incumbent La Shawn Ford, Democrat
A licensed teacher and real estate broker, Ford was motivated to run again to represent the 8th District because, he said, he can now do more as a legislator than before.
“Knowing what I know now, and knowing the process of Springfield and the relationships that I built, it just makes me a stronger member,” Ford said. “I have the ability now to get things done that I couldn’t get done when I was first elected.”
For example, although Ford has been pushing for a comprehensive high school in Austin since he first became a state representative, he only recently started building coalitions of House and Senate members who support such a high school, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives Emanuel “Chris” Welch.
Ford has been a big proponent of education and hopes to create a new high school in Austin while continuing to support Michele Clark Magnet High School. Throughout his tenure, Ford has sponsored legislation for educational summer programs for students performing below grade level and to increase access to early childhood education and care.
Another one of Ford’s goals, if he is reelected, is to continue connecting locals with employment opportunities. He said a big way to implement that is by building and supporting small businesses.
Ford created Illinois’ Small Business Empowerment and Workforce Development Task Force and created a loan program for ex-offenders who start businesses. In addition to regularly hosting small business summits and job fairs, Ford also formed the State Representative La Shawn K. Ford’s Business Growth and Creation Committee to offer training and resources to businesses.
Ford also wants to pass more health care legislation if he wins another term. In previous years, Ford has passed legislation supporting HIV/AIDS patients and led efforts to improve care for Alzheimer’s patients.
As co-founder of the West Side Heroin Task Force, Ford works to prevent drug use on the West Side. He’s also led efforts to make sure health insurance companies cover recovery housing for those dealing with substance abuse.
Ford is working with the general assembly to make it so that those struggling with substance abuse who are arrested can go to a treatment center instead of jail, and he is collaborating with the West Side Heroin Task Force to create public policy.
“Incarcerating a person in a county jail is way more costly to taxpayers than making sure that we get people on the road to recovery,” Ford said.
In late 2022, Ford proposed House Bill 0002, which proposes the opening of pilot overdose prevention sites in Illinois, where people can go for supervised consumption and access to behavioral health experts.
Ford views most of the legislation he’s a part of through social justice and civil rights lens.
Ford worked with the Black Caucus to eliminate cash bail last year. He created a commission to address the economic problems in Black communities and passed legislation prohibiting employers from paying Black employees lower wages.
Ford has also introduced bills to help integrate ex-offenders back into society. He introduced the State Employment Application Act, which would make it so state employers can’t ask if an applicant has been convicted of a non-violent criminal offense. To increase employment for ex-offenders, Ford passed legislation allowing ex-offenders to seal criminal records for some non-violent offenses. He was the chief House sponsor of legislation that provides grants for those who are exonerated of their crimes to attend a public college.
Ford also said he wants to see improvements in public safety on the West Side. He said he supports increased police presence in areas with high rates of violence and advocates for the Chicago Police Department to undergo an audit to evaluate their response times, and to make recommendations on improving those times in communities of color.
Other initiatives Ford said he’s working toward include allowing people in prison to vote, which he’s been pushing for over a decade, plus advocating for voter ID cards with photos and for psychedelics as a medical resource for those with PTSD.
Ford hopes that, if reelected, he can build more coalitions around these issues, something he said takes time but provides support for legislation.
“Before you ever try to attempt to build public policy and get people on your side, you have to first let people know who you are, and it takes years for people to connect,” Ford said. “Running again is an opportunity for me to go back and be a stronger voice for the 8th District.”
Leslie Collazo, Republican
Leslie Collazo was born and raised in Chicago and currently lives in North Austin. She said she decided to run for the Illinois House of Representatives as a way to impact policy change for her neighbors.
“I just reached a point where I felt like I could no longer sit on the sidelines with the political climate in our city and in our state,” Collazo said. “I just want to see the families and citizens in the district thriving, because we’re not thriving right now under the current policies that we’re living under.”
Collazo’s fight to run
Collazo jumped in the race for the State House’s 8th District after the primary elections. She joined as a slated candidate, a legal process where a candidate can petition to get on the ballot after the primaries.
But as she gathered signatures, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill to eliminate the slating process.
So, Collazo filed a lawsuit against the Illinois State Board of Elections. A circuit court in Springfield ruled in favor of Collazo, and the Illinois Supreme Court upheld that decision.
“Had that bill gone into effect,” Collazo said, “La Shawn Ford would have been the only candidate on the ballot for this office, and the choice for voters would have been made for them.”
“I felt that that was really unfair to the voter and robbing them of having a choice,” Collazo added. “Options are always good, and now they have one.”
Currently in real estate, Collazo has a background in teaching at a charter school and in the nonprofit sector.
“Working in the nonprofit world, you really have to leverage all the resources that you have and do a lot with very little,” Collazo said about a skillset she’s developed. She said she’s worked closely with the community and small businesses to pool resources and improve neighborhoods.
Collazo’s platform includes improving the economy for working class families like hers and lowering taxes.
She also wants to increase support for first responders, who she said are understaffed and overworked.
“If I’m having an emergency in my home, I can’t afford to wait 15, 20, 30 minutes for law enforcement to arrive,” Collazo said. She added that, while it was great to see the Chicago Police Department step up for the DNC, “the people in my community felt like we could use that type of support in our neighborhoods that are riddled with crime right now.”
Collazo also said she supports small businesses and said, if elected, she’ll work to grow those businesses, rather than them shutting down. Collazo sees small businesses struggling to offer their employees health care and other benefits, and getting enough financing to purchase properties.
When it comes to education, Collazo said her philosophy revolves around the family unit.
“When children have a supportive, loving, nurturing, structured environment in their home, they can achieve great things in sports, in school,” Collazo said. “We can give kids state-of-the-art schools with teachers who have doctorate degrees and all the technology and all the cool things. But at the end of the day, if they don’t have the support that they need in the home… how do they show up in these great facilities that we provide?”
One of the ways Collazo would look to provide more support at home is through transportation, since many parents have to take their kids to school themselves with CPS’ bus driver shortage.
Collazo also said she believes in families having a choice where to send their kids. As someone who’s seen how selective enrollment schools operate, Collazo said she wants to see all Chicago Public Schools working at that level of excellence.
“I don’t know if they’re fully funded differently, but even where they lack in funding, they have such an active body of parents who are willing to jump in and put some time and effort in to supplement where there’s gaps in the budget,” Collazo said of how she’d like to see selective enrollment schools emulated. She added that she knows it’s more of a complex issue than parental participation, which many don’t have the time for, but it is possible.
While Collazo recognizes that if elected, she’ll need administrative assistance to field constituents’ feedback, right now, her phone number is on all her campaign material, and she personally answers emails.
“I’m just your average citizen who is suffering alongside my neighbor,” Collazo said. “I’m definitely an underdog in this race, but I have heart, and I really care.”