Denyse Wang Stoneback Is Strong Candidate to win Illinois' 16th House District
Three candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination in the March 17th primary for State Representative in the 16th House District, including Yehiel Kalish (appointed incumbent), Kevin Olickal, and Denyse Wang Stoneback.
Denyse Wang Stoneback is an Asian-American woman from Skokie who is a social media consultant and founder of gun violence prevention nonprofit "People for a Safer Society". Stoneback worked in education for 20 years until the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.
She said the shooting left her floored, as legislators failed to stand up to the National Rifle Association by passing gun control policy. So she founded the People for a Safer Society, through which she has advocated for gun safety reform in Springfield, Chicago, Evanston, Morton Grove, and Skokie.
During an interview, Stoneback said, "I am passionate about bringing my Progressive leadership to the state of Illinois' capitol, Springfield, and no other candidate in this race has my proven record of leadership. I am supporting the Fair Tax, a proposal which would generate $3.4 billion in revenue for Illinois and take the burden off 97 percent of income earners."
Stoneback continued, "I want to keep the State of Illinois a safe, healthy and fair place. I'm running to represent our Community and the People of Illinois, to make Illinois a better place for everyone. I will lead the way to fix our Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) systems, ban Assault weapons and High-capacity magazines, and institute background checks for every gun sale."
Stoneback concluded by sharing her opinions, " I will Always stand up for women's rights and defend the right of domestic violence victims. I will work very hard every day to defend our Community and provide access to quality public education to all.
Stoneback has been endorsed by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, the Chicago Sun-Times, longtime State Representative Lou Lang, Planned Parenthood Illinois Action PAC, Personal PAC, Citizen Action Illinois, the Chicago Teachers Union, and several others.
The population of the 16th House district is roughly 110,000, with 32,600 registered voters in the 32 suburban precincts, spread through most of Skokie, all of Lincolnwood, and parts of Niles and Morton Grove, plus 43,000 registered voters in the 41 Chicago precincts, with 39 of those in the 50th Ward, and 5 in the 40th Ward. In the most recent presidential-year Democratic primary, turnout was 16,856, with 9,816 in the suburbs and 7,040 in Chicago. If she works hard in Chicago and Niles Township, then She will win the Primary. Early voting for the Illinois Primary begins Monday, March 2. The Illinois Primary will be held on March 17, 2020. Election Day is November 3, 2020.