She Runs Illinois 2024! — Morgan Phillips, candidate for IL House of Representatives, District 105
She Votes Illinois is pleased to feature Morgan Phillips running for IL House of Representatives, District 105. Follow our series, She Runs Illinois 2024!, leading up to election day as we showcase and uplift the voices of Illinois women running for public office in the upcoming election, November 5, 2024.
Tell us about yourself
I have lived in the district my entire life, and I went to local schools before being accepted into the Illinois Math and Science Academy. I got my Associate’s degree at the local community college, Illinois Valley Community College (IVCC), and my Bachelor’s at SIU Carbondale. I’ve been involved in politics since I was quite young and even was a page for a day on the house floor to advocate for 4H when I was in junior high. I worked as 76th Dist. State Representative Lance Yednock’s campaign manager in 2022, and had worked on his previous campaigns. Currently, I paint murals, one of which was just put up this spring at IVCC.
What are your top three legislative priorities you intend to focus on in office?
My top priorities are, in no particular order:
- The conservation of farmland & farming resources. Farmers understand how important it is to conserve their land for future generations, and making sure they can and do is vital for my community to continue to thrive.
- Funding schools fairly. We primarily use local property taxes, which help reinforce the cycle of poverty by depriving schools in poorer areas of resources. If we want to continue to use property taxes, then they need to be distributed more evenly, redistributing some money from the areas with the most to the areas with the least.
- Election reform — primarily, I am interested in ranked-choice voting, as I think letting voters pick their favorite candidate rather than voting ‘against’ someone will get young people more excited about voting and potentially allow for more diverse viewpoints. I’m also interested in making it more feasible for people to run as independents, as the current requirements make it extremely difficult if not practically impossible.
What motivated you to run for office?
I think young people need to be more involved in politics, and I hope that by running I can lead by example. I look back at the past sometimes and feel frustrated by decisions that passed on responsibility to people who weren’t even born yet. Even our infrastructure — it is often much more expensive to repair things in the long run if you put it off constantly, and yet that was done, in many places, for lower costs in the short term. The same goes for Superfund sites like the one in my district in DePue. We need to take responsibility for the future now, even if it isn’t easy. I don’t want to keep leaving behind messes for future generations.
How will you ensure that Illinois continues to lead in promoting women’s health and reproductive rights, especially in the face of potentially restrictive federal policies on abortion and birth control?
Illinois had been a leader in this field, and as a woman, I would push for it to continue to be so. I would support bills that come across my desk that preserve women’s rights, and would happily work with any proposals for such bills. It could be possible to enshrine such rights into the Illinois constitution, but I would need to work with other legislators for such a thing.
How do you propose Illinois can enhance access to affordable childcare and support services for working mothers, and what legislative measures will you champion to advance this goal?
I don’t have any specific measures in mind, but at least in my area, I think we need more access to healthcare in general. We’ve had several hospitals close down, and at this point, there are, to my knowledge, areas where if you go into labor you may be 30–45 minutes away from the nearest hospital. I know the state has been working to try to reopen them, but it’s something that needs a better solution — I’m not an expert in healthcare, but I would work with the people from my community to understand what solutions may be out there and find ways to actually make them happen. Ideally, I want to prevent similar situations from coming up in the future, both in my community and in others.
What steps will you take to enhance civic engagement and ensure that the voices of all constituents, including marginalized communities, are heard and represented in the legislative process in Illinois?
I want my actions, eg. running for office, to encourage young people in my community to actually get out and vote. I have met quite a few people thus far who are very excited to see someone their age running, many of whom were not registered. By actually going out into the community and talking to people at their local events, I believe I gain a much better understanding of what issues are on their minds. As for marginalized voices, I know my district is mostly white, but it is not entirely white, and like anywhere else, there are many people in the LGBTQ+ community. I represent everyone in my district, not just those who are most prevalent.
Closing comments
I really care about my community and want it to continue to be a good place to live in the future. I see my fellow young people not engaging as much, often because they feel they can’t, and I want to change that. If elected, I will be a voice for our future in Springfield.
If you would like to learn more about Morgan Phillips and her platform or volunteer for her campaign, please check out her website at morgan105.com. Don’t forget to follow her on Facebook. Reach out today and help make a difference in the upcoming 2024 election.
(The information contained in this post is provided only as general information and does not imply an endorsement by She Votes Illinois.)
