Obama Campaign Press Release - African American Illinois Legislators Unanimously Endorse Barack Obama

Springfield, IL -- The African American members of the Illinois General Assembly today unanimously endorsed Barack Obama for President. The African American members of the Chicago City Council unanimously endorsed Obama this fall.

"Barack Obama has spent 20 years delivering change we can believe in to communities across Illinois," said Senate President Emil Jones.

"Barack Obama started his career in public service on the South Side of Chicago, organizing folks who had little hope to strengthen their families and their communities. In Springfield, he fought to outlaw racial profiling, to prevent innocent people from being sent to Death Row, and to provide health care coverage to an additional 150,000 Illinois residents. In Washington, he secured increased investments for predominately black institutions to make higher learning more affordable for our children and to protect homeowners from risky loans and foreclosures. Every time we needed his help, Barack Obama stood up for us, and we need to stand up for him by voting on February 5th to elect Barack our next President."

"Our next President shouldn't be judged by the number of years they have spent in Washington, they should be judged by whether or not they have delivered change for our communities," added Representative David Miller. "We need to elect Barack Obama to take on the great challenges facing our communities - we know from his time in Chicago, Springfield, and Washington that he's able to unite folks from all walks of life to get things done. He stands up to special interests and defends our families no matter what the pundits say. Starting today, we've got to educate our friends and neighbors about Barack Obama, and then on February 5th we will turn out the vote for Barack in force."

Endorsing Barack Obama today are:

Illinois State Senate:

State Senate President Emil Jones

Senator Jackie Collins

Senator James F. Clayborne Jr

Senator Ricky Hendon

Senator Mattie Hunter

Senator Kimberly Lightford

Senator James Meeks

Senator Kwame Raoul

Senator Donne Trotter

Illinois State Representatives:

Rep. Annazette Collins

Rep. Marlow Colvin

Rep. Monique Davis

Rep. William Davis

Rep. Kenneth Duncan

Rep. Mary Flowers

Rep. LaShawn Ford

Rep. Esther Golar

Rep. Deborah Graham

Rep. Constance Howard

Rep. Elga Jefferies

Rep. Charles Jefferson

Rep. David Miller

Rep. Milton Patterson

Rep. Al Riley

Rep. Arthur Turner

Rep. Eddie Washington

Rep. Karen Yarbrough

Rep. Wyvetter Younge