Since 2019, Democrat Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz has represented this north suburban district, centered in Glenview and including parts of Wilmette, Evanston, Skokie and Northbrook. Gong-Gershowitz, 55, is among the leaders in Springfield on sane gun control legislation, including the state’s ban on assault-style weapons and a 2023 law that allows for lawsuits against gunmakers by victims of gun violence. She is a thoughtful Democratic voice
During the COVID-19 pandemic, as America was seeing a rise in anti-Asian violence, Democratic incumbent Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz of Glenview stewarded legislation that made Illinois the first state to require Asian American history to be taught in public schools. “Empathy comes from understanding,” Gong-Gershowitz told us. Her grandparents emigrated from China in the 1920s and feared deportation under the Chinese Exclusion Acts. “A lack of
Mary Manching felt a disconnect between her Asian American heritage and what she was learning at Northside College Prep. “I never saw myself represented in the history curriculum,” said Manching, a graduating senior at the selective enrollment high school in the North Park neighborhood. “I knew what it was like to not have a lot of people that looked like me, that I could