Real estate agent Shantel Franklin will be the first ever female state representative from the 8th House District after a surprisingly strong performance in a four-candidate field in her first political race.
Franklin, 32, who also served as an aide to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, for six years, had 5,997 votes, nearly 46% of the total, with around 88% of ballots counted. Latonya Mitts was a distant second with 25.9%, followed by Jill Bush with 16.2% and John Harrell with 12.2%.
With no candidate running in the Republican primary, unless someone files to run as an independent, Franklin will be unopposed in the general election in November and will be sworn in as state rep in January.
While her 20% winning margin may have been a surprise to some, it wasn’t to Franklin, who said her victory was the result of old school political leg work in the precincts, and networking with people.
“It was important to me, as a new face, to not be outworked by anyone,” she said on the day following the election.
“Building trust with voters really started when I gathered petitions (in August),” she said. “My strategy was ‘get your (butt) on those doors.’ I knocked on over 25,000 doors.
“I busted up a pair of boots in the process, but that’s OK.”
“It (wasn’t) always easy,” she said. “I wanted to veer off and have some events, but I stayed at it.” She said she’s picked up bits of campaign wisdom from veterans like the state rep she’s replacing, La Shawn Ford (who won his 7th Congressional primary Tuesday night) and Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch. Both pols stressed the essential nature of old school, face-to-face retail politics.
Franklin’s near majority vote total was based on a huge vote differential in the suburbs. While Franklin led Mitts 2,516 to 2,044 in the city – an 8% difference — she outpolled Mitts 3,481 to 1,348 in the suburbs as far south as Countryside, a 30-point margin (48.9% to 18.9%).
Franklin thanked the voters who turned out for her. She also expressed gratitude for the support of five mayors in the suburban area of the 8th House District, including Countryside, Hodgkins, North Riverside, LaGrange and LaGrange Park.
Franklin said she’s grateful for her opponents and what they’ve done in the community, specifically mentioning the Rev. John Harrell and his Black Men United organization, “as well as Latonya Mitts. Her mom is my alderwoman.”
“We’re neighbors,” she said. “We’re all after the common good.”
“I’m excited where the district is headed,” Franklin said. “I live in this district. We have a stake in this district. And I want to see this district advance.”
Asked what her to do list in Springfield includes, Franklin said affordability and the cost of living are her top concerns. The Housing and Appropriations committees were high on her list. And education.
“We need a fighter for education, so I’d like to be on the education committee,” she said.
Mitts and Franklin both finished strong in fundraising. Mitts had $39,899 banked on Jan.1 and took in $46,000 through February. The last two weeks she received $25,000 from her mother’s political organization, and $10,000 from Chicago Land Operators Joint Labor-Management PAC.
Franklin got a welcome $200,000 boost in February. More than a third of it from the Chicago Teacher’s Union, and in the last 10 days received $11,000, including donations from southern Illinois Democrat Jay Hoffman and three other House members.