Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• Is this a comprehensive list of every progressive candidate in Illinois? Answer: No. PDA-IL is a volunteer organization with limited resources. Our list is comprised of candidates who approched us and were accepted. We don't take a position in every race across Illinois.
• How was the list of candidates compiled? Answer: The initial list was compiled by our Chicago PDA chapter. Our Chicago Chapter chose candidates that they either endorsed, supported, or were close allies.
• I have a local candidate who is running for Mayor of my town. How do I get my candidate listed? Should I write to PDA-IL? Answer: Please have your candidate fill out the form located here. We need you to volunteer and contact the candidate. Therefore, instead of writing to PDA-IL, please contact to your candidate.
• How do you define a "Progressive" candidate? Answer: Please see "Federal versus Local (next faq item)" races.
• Is there a difference between Federal and local races? Answer: Yes. The Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) is a federal PAC which is limited to working on Federal races. PDAILLINOIS.ORG is a community website serving both the Illinois Chapters of the PDA and citizen allies (local activists). Many PDA chapter members are also interested in local non-federal races, such as the Illinois General Assembly. Therefore, our candidate section includes candidates which our local activist allies have recommended, supported or endorsed. Currently, our local Illinois ally activists are not incorporated in to a formal organization.
  • Federal Criteria: Candidates for federal office must agree with the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) five priority issues detailed here.
  • State and Local Criteria: Our Candidate section is an ongoing project. Allies of PDA are working on a set of criteria which applies the principals of PDA's priority issues to local races. Currently, members of the PDA Illinois state coordinating committee who also volunteer as local activists make up our local candidate coordination committee. Our local candidate coordination committee is working on a draft of the selection criteria.
• My candidate is a Democrat, isn't that enough? Answer: No. We are progressives first and democrats second. We support progressive candidates. We do not support corporate and/or conservative democrats. Our mission is to advance a true progressive agenda.
• Who is the PDA Chicago? Answer: PDA organizes chapters by federal congressional district. PDA Chicago is several chapters who meet together every second monday of the month (details here).  The Chicago Chapter of PDA (aka PDA Chicago) consists of the followning congressional district chapters (4, 5, 7 and 9). We also have some members who live on 2,3,6,11 and 14.
• I live in Wisconsin, what about nearby states? Answer: Since PDA-IL is a volunteer organization with limited resouces, we currently restrict our list to candidates running in Illinois.
• Why do you have articles about candidates who are not part of your list? Many of PDA and local activists choose to do work for candidates based on criteria that does meet our "Progressive" standard. If an activist has donated signifigant time to PDA's work, we allow the activst to publish a guest article describing their campaign work. We are trying to balance our vision as a community website which empowers individuals with the realities of local politics.