She Runs Illinois 2020! — Erika C. Weaver, candidate for IL-15 Congressional District
She Votes Illinois is pleased to feature Erika C. Weaver running for U.S. House of Representatives — IL-15 Congressional District. Follow our series, She Runs Illinois 2020!, leading up to election day as we showcase and uplift the voices of Illinois women running for public office in the upcoming election.
Tell us about yourself
Erika is an advocate and passionate about standing up for the working class. She is a mom of three amazing young people, who in turn are her biggest supporters. She is a Coles County Public Defender, and member of the Mattoon CUSD2 school board.
After years of working in multiple call centers, and abrupt change in circumstances, Erika found herself homeless with her three small children. After enduring nearly a year of housing insecurity, Erika secured an apartment and temporary employment. It was then that she decided to focus on transitioning her family out of the cycle of poverty. In 2005, Erika and her children moved to Coles County, and enrolled in classes at Lake Land College. Erika completed an Associate’s degree in Business Administration, and then transferred to Eastern Illinois University to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology, Sports, & Recreation and then, a Master’s degree in College Student Affairs.
Erika returned to Lake Land College where she served as a member of the faculty and as an Academic Counselor. She applied for and accepted admission into Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Erika could not afford to relocate her family to the Chicagoland area, so she was forced to defer starting her legal education for two years. She knew that earning her law degree would change the trajectory for her family, so she commuted the 184 miles from Mattoon to Chicago over the next three years. This meant three years of sleeping on couches, floors, and in borrowed spaces.
Like so many of you, Erika felt disconnected from and disenchanted with the current political climate. She felt ignored, and discounted, yet experience has taught her the best way to change is to roll up her sleeves and get to work.
Tell us about the women in your life
I have been blessed to have women in my life who have been loving, wise, ambitious, and unwavering. These women have been friends, classmates, colleagues, and mentors. As much as I appreciate them, the most important young women in my life are my daughters. They never cease to amaze me with their strength and growth. They give me laughter, guidance, and correction. They are light years ahead of where I was at their ages, and I am honored to be here with them as they continue to grow. Viewing life through the eyes of my daughters, I am inspired by the prospects of what the future holds for each of us. These women collectively operate as my confidants who help me balance my moral compass, work ethics, ambitions, boundaries and self-care in a way that allows me to serve my communities with the fullness of my talents.
The woman in politics that I feel the most affinity to is Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. She was absolutely excellent! She was intentional, involved, inspiring, and indomitable. As I observe and experience challenges in this election cycle such as issues of equity in women’s rights, education, and inclusive political representation. I am astounded to know that these challenges and more were also before Congresswoman Chisholm throughout her term and still prevalent today. I have unfortunately heard many people quote Congresswoman Chisholm while never truly challenging the constructs that made her presidential candidacy beyond difficult. Her ability to campaign with grace and veracity resonates with me, and are values I bring to the table as I work to ensure we have a strong representative for the 15th district of Illinois.
What led you into politics? Why are you running for THIS office?
I made the decision to pursue politics because I was actively engaged in my community. My efforts were fueled by the desire to serve my family and my community, not become a politician. This was also how I approached running for our school board, and now how I approach this campaign. I decided to run for this office because I did not believe that anyone running would advocate for every person in our district. I believe we need a representative that is engaged with our district and advocating for us. I spoke with my children and we decided that I needed to get into this race to carry the voices of the people in our district to DC.
If you were currently in office, how would you use your office to address the economic harm from COVID-19 in your community?
As an elected member of the MCUSD 2 board, I work with my board members to support our district and build administrators in developing reopening plans that are in the best interest of our students and families, and am the board representative on the committee to discuss the district’s reopening plan. My role is to help provide equity in education to our students and families. As a representative of the 15th district, I want to move issues of funding public education onto the agenda of the Appropriations Committee. We need to increase the amount of funding that our public schools receive so that every student has an excellent education that prepares them to be global citizens. I want to secure funding to have mobile medical units to provide medical services around the district. I would like to have units for general medicine, mammograms, dentistry, mental health screenings, substance abuse, and VA services. I would support protecting the ACA so that our constituents are not left without access to medical services. We need to attract more remote employment opportunities, help our municipalities transition to renewable energy, and pass legislation that allows our farmers to engage in an open market.
What do you believe the greatest challenges are to creating a more racially just legal and political system?
The greatest challenge is admitting that the inequities exist. Once we can admit that there is an inequity in representation on every level of the legal and political systems, we can engage in intentional discussions on how to recruit, train, promote, support, and retain diverse candidates. Many exceptional candidates are overlooked due to limited access to both systems. We need to intentionally recruit in diverse groups.
What is the most important policy you could implement that would help women?
The issues of inequity for women cannot be addressed in one policy alone.. However, I believe that we can usher in policies that focus on collectively improving the lives of women everywhere. We should implement a comprehensive healthcare plan that gives women autonomy over their bodies by granting coverage for contraceptives, prenatal care, and equitable access to preventative services. A second would be a policy that provides equity in pay for women in all of our subgroups, because we still experience salary disparities between women of different cultures. Most importantly, we need to have more women in leadership positions in our professions and in politics. We have demonstrated our power in the household, in the workplace, and at the ballot box; this should be reflected in the decision making process.
What do you wish you had known before you decided to run for office?
This is a great question because it aligns with my references to Congresswoman Chisholm. I wish that I had known that the social and political constructs that she faced in 1972 were still in practice in 2020. The challenges that she faced in her presidential campaign remain common practices. I have not yet found any statements that Chisholm was unqualified for the office she sought, only that no one believed that she would win. However, not supporting her created the exact result. We take chances on candidates in every election cycle, why not take a chance on the best candidate, the first time.
Closing comments
If any voter is undecided, I would say talk to me. Look at my website, visit the Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter pages, attend a virtual town hall, and make your decision then. I would tell them that I am who I say that I am. I have no propaganda. I am an advocate for people. I will always do what is best for the people of this district above any allegiance to party or administration. We have had enough people tell us what Washington or a party wants; I want to take our voices to Washington and tell them what the 15th district wants and deserves. I am committed to doing good work, my conduct and character are consistent, and I would bet on me in any instance. I am asking the people of our district to bet on me too.
If you would like to learn more about Erika Weaver and her platform or volunteer for her campaign, please check out her website at weaverforillinois.com. Don’t forget to follow her on Facebook at @WeaverForIL. Reach out today and help make a difference in the upcoming 2020 election.
(The information contained in this post is provided only as general information and does not imply an endorsement by She Votes Illinois.)
