By Ivette Sandoval

The race for the Democratic nomination for state senator of the 1st District is pitting former police officer and long-term incumbent Antonio Munoz against Adolfo Mondragon, a lawyer and Yale graduate from Brighton Park. Adolfo Mondragon practices public interest law at Vernor Moran LLC.

“I decided to run for senate because I feel that the community deserves better leadership,” explained the 35-year-old Mondragon. “Our current senator has been in office for ten years and has been mediocre at best.”

He feels someone with his background, experience, and education can better lead and represent the district.

In 2007, Mondragon filed a lawsuit against the Board of Elections, alleging the 25th Ward aldermanic race between Daniel Solis and Cuauhtemoc Morfin failed to give voters due process and equal protection because the board did not count 200 votes for Ambrosio Medrano, who had been removed from the ballot. Had the votes been counted, Solis and Morfin would have faced a runoff instead of Solis being elected. The case remains in the court of appeals.

Mondragon said as senator he would work to reduce crime and address housing and the district’s health and environment. “I did research, and in the last three years there have been about 63 homicides in our district, many of these gang-related,” he said.

District high schools graduate only 50% of students, and ACT scores average a low 17. “We need to graduate more kids from high school, and we need to give them access and preparation when they take university exams so that they can get into good universities,” said Mondragon.

Mondragon is endorsed by the Independent Voters of Illinois Independent Precinct Organization and the Illinois for Better Government Organization.

As senator, Antonio “Tony” Munoz helped co-found the Senate’s Latino Caucus and has drafted and helped pass legislation on immigration, parks, and gang prevention. He also worked on legislation allowing immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates and the IHOPE program, which enrolls high school dropouts in year-round classes.

One of his most recent bills that became law guarantees tenants receive a foreclosure notice 30 days before a property goes into foreclosure. “Renters…often didn’t even know that their building was in foreclosure,” Munoz said, noting such a situation is “not fair for the tenants, because they’re paying the rent, but the landlord wasn’t paying the bank.”

He recently helped pass a $30 billion statewide capital bill that will create a bond issue to bring money to communities around Illinois, including the 1st District, for various projects.

Seeing constituents worried about jobs because so many people have been laid off motivates him to continue to work for the district, he said.

“I don’t ever take any election for granted,” Munoz said. “I work for my constituency by passing legislation for them, and it’s great when you can bring home millions of dollars to the district over the years…that’s what makes me feel good about the job.”