Cook County Board Commissioner, 5th District, Illinois

I am running for Cook County Commissioner to raise the level of service residents of the 5th District can come to expect. I want to address long ignored quality of life issues impacting residents every day. Folks are getting pushed further and further out of Chicago and its suburbs due to the rising cost of living. And despite lip service from establishment politicians, neither public safety nor equity in the justice system have improved.

I am ready to bring a fresh face, new perspective, and bold leadership to the Cook County Board.

The issues most important to me include the following in no particular order: advocating for more accessible and affordable healthcare; bringing long-needed transparency to the Cook County Board; fighting for economic development and economic relief for working-class families; providing authentic engagement and the basic constituent services that our community deserves; reforming the criminal legal system and reimagining public safety; and tackling climate change and ushering in environmental justice.

I have always firmly believed in the power of a community coming together. Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, I still live in the same Roseland house I grew up in. But over the better part of nearly three decades, I have seen the detrimental effects of neglect and corruption in my neighborhood first-hand.

I was raised on the South Side by my mother and grandparents, who first moved to Chicago from Mississippi in search of better opportunities. I was blessed with great teachers who believed in me from a young age—in fact, I am still in touch with my kindergarten teacher to this day. The women in my life made sure I prioritized my education. Always a talkative young man—maybe too talkative if you ask my teachers— I knew early on that I wanted to be a lawyer and use my position to advance my community. Dedicating myself to my studies, I graduated from the University of Illinois and became the first in my family to earn a college degree.

In college, I discovered the ways I could marry my passion for my community with public service. I got my first taste of campaigning as a volunteer organizer on the Obama presidential campaign. I also made my first run for office, winning a highly competitive race for Student Trustee on the U of I Board of Trustees. My election, along with two other Black students in Chicago and Springfield marked the first time in history that all three campuses were represented by someone of African descent. As a Trustee, I took an active role in the state’s budget process; tackled issues of diversity, belonging, and inclusion, and college affordability; and organized against Governor Rauner’s devastating budget cuts.
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After college, I worked in the Obama Administration in the Office of Management and Administration and shortly thereafter for then-Illinois State Representative Juliana Stratton, now Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. Before law school, I also joined the Obama Foundation as their first-ever Community Organizer tasked with building a strong, grassroots local community network whose voices were at the center of every major decision. Today I am in my third year of law school and set to graduate in May of 2022. I externed for a federal judge, worked at the ACLU of Illinois, defended people’s civil and constitutional rights, and fought against corporations in violation of consumers’ privacy interests.

The filing window was between Monday, March 7th, 2022, through Monday, March 14th, 2022. The primary election is Tuesday, June 28th, 2022, and the general election is Tuesday, November 8th, 2022.

Yes, there is a partisan primary and general election.

I have an affiliation with the Democratic Party.

Raising money as a first-time, grassroots candidate not willing to accept funding from just anywhere.

I think I will win because my base of support will be the 9th and 34th Ward (City of Chicago voters) and Black voters of all ages. I intend to target the highest performing Democratic precincts and other high priority precincts as the campaign progresses. Targets include all voters that have voted democratic in at least 1 of the last 3 primary elections and voters from the 2020 General Election. In addition to Latino voters, White voters, young voters, and suburban voters.

Alaina Hampton, (217) 891-5717, alaina@alainahampton.com

To-date, I have been running a very lean campaign operation as a grassroots, first-time candidate. From launch at the end of November through the ballot access process, which kicked off on March 7th, 2022, I have been coordinating the day-to-day operations and management of my campaign.

By April, I expect to on-board one to two full-time campaign professionals to take over day-to-day operations and management as my personal focus will shift exclusively to door-to-door engagement and fundraising.

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Run For Something, LGBTQ Victory Fund, Illinois House Black Caucus Chair Kam Buckner, Illinois State Representative Lamont J. Robinson, MWRD Commissioner & Former Obama Great Lakes Czar Cam Davis, and 34th Ward Committeeperson Preston Brown Jr.

Vernard Alsberry - Democrat
Monica Gordon - Democrat
Kierra Williams - Democrat

Agreed on 03-21-2022