Rural Illinois

Five Downstate Candidates Discuss How to Win Elections in Traditionally Rural Illinois

Indivisible Rural Illinois, on  August 3, hosted four rural Democrats from the Metro East area plus the first-time Congressional candidate for IL-13 at the weekly Indivisible Illinois Community Collaborative meeting to discuss how to win in traditionally Rural Illinois. They are State Senator Chris Belt, representing the 57th Senate District; State Senator Kris Tharp, representing the 56th Senate District; State Rep. Jay Hoffmann, representing the 113th State House District; State Rep. LaToya Greenwood, representing the 114th State House District; and Nikki Budzinski, a first-time candidate in the newly drawn IL-13, which covers a swath of Rural Illinois from Champaign County to Metro East. Hear how they’ve managed to run and win, and plan to do it again, despite the wide swaths of Red in Rural Illinois. https://bit.ly/3BUhYNQ

Watch Indivisible Rural Illinois’ August 4 Meeting, Featuring Two Top Climate Scientists on Community-Scale Response to Climate Change Impacts 

Concerned about how climate change is affecting Illinois? Then you’ll want to watch this Zoom meeting from Indivisible Rural Illinois’ August 4 meeting, featuring Dr. Don Wuebbles, University of Illinois professor of atmospheric science, and Dr. Ann Witmer, University of Illinois professor of environmental engineering, the authors of “Community-Scale Response To Climate Change Impacts.” The presentation includes charts and graphs showing climate impacts around the state as well as best strategies on how to talk about climate change to various rural communities.

Dr. Wuebbels was the first director of the U of I’s School of Earth, Society, and Environment and lead author of several US and UN climate-change reports. He is also the author of The Nature Conservancy’s recent publication, “Tackling Climate Change in Illinois.” Dr. Wittmer has pioneered the discipline of Contextual Engineering. Her current research includes an examination of conditions in rural populations that make them receptive or resistant to climate change adaptation technologies.

Watch the entire presentation here: https://bit.ly/3Q5DUKe.

Urbana, Illinois – Hundreds turned out for the emergency Abortion Rights Rally in response to the fall of Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022. See a video here.

The June 22, 2022 Statewide Meeting, hosted by Indivisible Rural Illinois, featured a panel of Democratic county chairs who live in conservative counties. They talked about what it takes to find candidates to run for offices in their districts.

The June 22 Statewide Meeting, hosted by Indivisible Rural Illinois, will feature a panel of Democratic county chairs who live in conservative counties.  They will talk about what it takes to find candidates to run for offices in their districts.

RSVP for the Zoom on June 22.

Indivisible Rural Illinois Presents: Climate Change: What Do We Really Need To Know, and How Do We Influence Voters on The Issue?

Climate change, and environmental issues in general, are impacting our present as well as our future. There are already immigration, agricultural and land usage issues that are affecting us because of climate. Those issues are becoming more prevalent daily. Voters need to know how concerning this issue is to their lives and health, and vote accordingly. Our speaker, Dr. Tracey Schafer, will discuss how climate and the environment affect our everyday lives, will fill us in on current environmental policy, and help us figure out how to bring the vast importance of this issue to the attention of voters.

Dr. Tracey Schafer, PhD is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Florida in Wetland Biogeochemistry. Among other things, she has done research on how hurricanes affect soil and water. Dr. Schafer also spent over 2 years in the Peace Corps in Senegal dealing with agri-forestry and farming. She received a B.S. in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from the University of Illinois. She received her M.S. and PhD from the University of Florida in Soil and Water Sciences.

Indivisible Illinois Community Collaborative hosted by Indivisible Rural Illinois, May 11, 2022

Fill in the ballot: Candidates for EVERY Office  

Throughout the state of Illinois, there will be empty ballot positions on the June 28, 2022 Democratic primary ballot. These are missed opportunities! How can we encourage qualified progressive neighbors to step up and run for public office? This is particularly challenging when members of the opposite party are often intimidating and the chance of winning in a rural area can feel nearly impossible. On May 11, two Illinois leaders, both from very small towns, will share ideas on how to begin to build a public profile prior to running for office. Join us to hear from our State Treasurer, Michael Frerichs, and Cindy Cunningham, candidate for the 104th Illinois State House. They will share their insights and experiences on running for office in deep red areas of Illinois.

May 11, 7:30pm, Central Time

Register here for the virtual event on Zoom.

Throughout the State of Illinois, there will be empty ballot positions on the June 28, 2022, Democratic primary ballot. These are missed opportunities!

How can we encourage qualified progressive neighbors to step up and run for public office? This is particularly challenging when members of the opposite party are often intimidating and the chance of winning in a rural area can feel nearly impossible.

On May 11, two Illinois leaders, both from very small towns, will share ideas on how to begin to build a public profile prior to running for office. Join us to hear from our State Treasurer, Michael Frerichs, and Cindy Cunningham, candidate for the 104th Illinois State House. They will share their insights and experiences on running for office in deep red areas of Illinois. Please join us! Register here.

Guest speakers:

Sara Dady, attorney specializing in immigration law and a strong advocate for immigrant rights

Ben Mueller, Executive Director, Immigrant Services of Champaign-Urbana

Laura Moreno, Sauk Valley Community College, sharing her personal story of moving to rural Illinois from Mexico and becoming the Literacy Coordinator at Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon.

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The purpose of Indivisible Rural Illinois is to support rural progressives as we head into the 2022 general election. It is clear that there is a sharp political divide between rural and suburban/urban Illinois, but there are many progressives living in rural areas. Our project is two-fold: 1) strategizing on how to find like-minded progressives in our communities; 2) how to work toward informing our neighbors about what  the progressive agenda really is.

Our Working Mission: To amplify a progressive voice in rural Illinois and eventually flip rural Illinois from red to blue  (the long-term goal).

Our Goals: To build our groups, to encourage new groups in our geographic areas, to work to correct the narrative of who “progressives” are and what they stand for, to define the relationship between grassroots organizations and local Democratic party organizations, and to work toward policy changes that will benefit our areas.

Contact: [email protected]

–Sarah Bingaman and Marci Adelston-Schafer, co-leaders

Indivisible Illinois Community Collaborative Statewide Call with Indivisible Rural Illinois

Continuing Challenges Facing Black Americans in Education, Voting Access, Healthcare & Policing

Moderator: Saskia Young, Associate Organizing Director, Indivisible National.

The panel includes our own Indivisible Rural Illinois member, Dr. Moses Kyobe, a cardiologist from Freeport, Dr. Gus Wood of the University of Illinois, Dr. Barbara Suggs Mason, and NAACP CU Minnie Pearson.