CHICAGO, IL — Last week, Chicago News Weekly published a profile on lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Christian Mitchell.
The profile touches on the lessons Mitchell has drawn from the ups and downs of policymaking, how that experience has prepared him for this moment, and what he hopes to accomplish as lieutenant governor — grounded in a belief, shaped by his Air National Guard service and time on the campaign trail, that what pulls us together is so much greater than what pushes us apart.
Read excerpts from the profile below:
Chicago News Weekly: Christian Mitchell, The Quest for the Second Seat
[Laura Miller, 09/10/2026]
- “When I go to the National Guard, a whole bunch of people, I’m quite sure, are not voting for me and don’t vote Democratic, and we still work together,” he said. “We get each other’s backs, and if we’ve got to go overseas and go downrange, we are going to make sure that flag on our shoulder is more important than any differences that we may have.”
- Mitchell speaks about public policy with the patience of someone who has watched his ideas fail before watching versions of them return under different bill numbers, sponsors and governors. During his six years in the Illinois House, several of his most ambitious proposals stalled or were vetoed. He now describes those losses as an education in how government changes.
- “Sometimes your role is to start the conversation and sometimes your role is to finish it,” he said. “You’ve got to do the work, build the coalition, put in the time, and then over time you can see real progress. But you’ve got to be willing to take incremental change as well as take the big swings.”
- He says he wants to continue Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s work with agriculture, rural affairs and community development while focusing on economic growth, workforce preparation and the everyday experience of dealing with state government. He points to a University of Chicago partnership with Malcolm X College that creates pathways from associate degrees into life-science careers. He also talks about improving routine interactions, from securing a professional permit to applying for help from the Department of Children and Family Services, because those encounters shape how residents understand government. “Those may sound like little things,” he said, “but all those added up help bring life and vitality to our communities.”
- For Mitchell, representation is not only about encouraging Black children to imagine themselves as elected officials. It also changes what other children learn to regard as ordinary. White children who grew up seeing a Black president, he said, may be less likely to perceive a Black woman, Asian woman or Latino executive as an aberration. “Representation matters not just for the people who are inspired by the people, but for the people for whom it makes it normal,” he said.
- Near the end of the conversation, Mitchell was asked Chicago News Weekly’s “shouting into the void” question: If every person in Illinois were listening and he could tell them anything, what would he say? He began with Kendrick Lamar: “We’re gonna be all right.”
- He acknowledged that prices are high and wages feel compressed, then moved into the argument he wants the campaign to carry. He and Pritzker would govern for the entire state, he said, working to lower costs, raise wages and challenge insurance, technology and data companies when their interests conflict with those of Illinois residents.
- “When I think about my proudest accomplishments, it’s not CEJA (Climate and Equitable Jobs Act) or infrastructure, cannabis or the assault-weapons ban,” he said. “It’s the fact that Bria Scudder, who was my deputy, is now deputy governor and a much better deputy governor than I ever was.” He mentions his first assistant, now working at the Illinois Commerce Commission, and a former deputy campaign manager who became an attorney for the campaign. His staff is noticeably young because, he said, he wants them to receive the opportunities others created for him.
Full story is available here.
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