NEWS FROM MAINE TOWNSHIP
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Filipina Dem has a shot at making state history
Chicago Sun-times June 30, 2008
Aurora Austriaco is walking the precincts. Months ago, she started out in heels. "You always want to wear
something nice," she told me the other day. She swiftly realized that "nice" wasn't going to work. Now, she's
sporting nurse's shoes.
Aurora Austriaco is running to represent Illinois' 65th Legislative District. She's knocking on doors four days a
week, aiming to become the first Asian American elected to the Illinois General Assembly. To get there, she'll
need to knock off a 15-year incumbent--state Rep. Rosemary Mulligan, who represents voters in a district that
includes portions of Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Niles, Rosemont and Chicago's Northwest Side.
The district is a traditional Republican redoubt. That would appear to put Austriaco's bid in Don Quixote territory,
but the times, they are a-changin.' The Illinois GOP is looking to the November election as a patient would
prepare for a visit from Dr. Jack Kevorkian. A mercy killing might be the order of the day.
That, on top of exploding gas prices, a tanking economy, and the Barack Obama juggernaut, could make
Austriaco a history maker.
The Filipina lawyer, community activist and mother of two eschews the "model minority" stereotype.
She came up tough. Austriaco, 43, was born in the Philippines into a family of eight children. Her parents
moved to Chicago when they "realized that they needed to put all the kids through college in the United States,"
she said. The parents came first, worked and "sent money to the Philippines to take care of us," until they moved
every child here, one by one.
Austriaco arrived on the city's Northwest Side at the age of 18. Her reassembled family of 10 was scrunched into
a three-bedroom, second-floor walkup. She worked days, went to school at night. "I tell you, Laura, I don't know
how we survived."
Then came bachelor's and law degrees from DePaul University. Then a practice in real estate law at Peck,
Bloom, Austriaco and Koenig. She is short on naivete and hubris and long on smarts and insight.
"She cares deeply about the issues in our community, and yet she is no fool," said Cook County Circuit Court
Judge Sandra Otaka, an early political mentor.
Austriaco is a symbol of Northwest Chicago's growing Asian presence. The area has seen dramatic growth of its
minority population in recent years. Austriaco, who now lives in Park Ridge, estimates that the district is 12
percent Latino and 6 percent Asian.
The petite, raven-haired counselor is not only walking the 65th, but is also stacking up endorsements from
heavyweights like Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Secretary of State Jesse White and U.S. Rep. Jan
Schakowsky.
Even in a hapless year for Republicans, defeating a respected moderate legislator like Mulligan is not a cinch.
Still, look for a clue in the Feb. 5 Democratic and Republican primaries, where she and Mulligan each ran
unopposed.
Austriaco won 10,641 votes in the Democratic contest, compared with Mulligan's 5,358. On election night,
Mulligan shrugged it off by telling the Journal, a local community newspaper, that 2008 was "a very unusual
year." Many Republicans, she speculated, took Democratic ballots to weigh in on the epic battle between
Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton.
So Austriaco is hoofing away in her nurse's shoes, targeting the district's 25 to 30 precincts that trend
independent and moderate Republican. She is pushing many of the standard Democratic causes, like
education, health care and advocacy for the elderly.
The numerical clout of Asian Americans is small, but changing demographics may help them get their due. In
2002, voters elected Otaka as the first Asian-American judge in Cook County. Decorated Iraq war veteran Tammy
Duckworth made a strong, though losing, pitch for Illinois' 6th Congressional District in 2006, and is still a
political comer. Last year, 50th Ward community activist Naisy Dolar nearly ended the 34-year reign of Ald.
Bernard Stone.
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Ald. Ricardo Munoz, Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan, Ald. Tom Tunney, take
note: Asians are a key wedge group that could be a boon to ambitious, coalition-minded pols.
Chicago Sun-times June 30, 2008
Aurora Austriaco is walking the precincts. Months ago, she started out in heels. "You always want to wear
something nice," she told me the other day. She swiftly realized that "nice" wasn't going to work. Now, she's
sporting nurse's shoes.
Aurora Austriaco is running to represent Illinois' 65th Legislative District. She's knocking on doors four days a
week, aiming to become the first Asian American elected to the Illinois General Assembly. To get there, she'll
need to knock off a 15-year incumbent--state Rep. Rosemary Mulligan, who represents voters in a district that
includes portions of Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Niles, Rosemont and Chicago's Northwest Side.
The district is a traditional Republican redoubt. That would appear to put Austriaco's bid in Don Quixote territory,
but the times, they are a-changin.' The Illinois GOP is looking to the November election as a patient would
prepare for a visit from Dr. Jack Kevorkian. A mercy killing might be the order of the day.
That, on top of exploding gas prices, a tanking economy, and the Barack Obama juggernaut, could make
Austriaco a history maker.
The Filipina lawyer, community activist and mother of two eschews the "model minority" stereotype.
She came up tough. Austriaco, 43, was born in the Philippines into a family of eight children. Her parents
moved to Chicago when they "realized that they needed to put all the kids through college in the United States,"
she said. The parents came first, worked and "sent money to the Philippines to take care of us," until they moved
every child here, one by one.
Austriaco arrived on the city's Northwest Side at the age of 18. Her reassembled family of 10 was scrunched into
a three-bedroom, second-floor walkup. She worked days, went to school at night. "I tell you, Laura, I don't know
how we survived."
Then came bachelor's and law degrees from DePaul University. Then a practice in real estate law at Peck,
Bloom, Austriaco and Koenig. She is short on naivete and hubris and long on smarts and insight.
"She cares deeply about the issues in our community, and yet she is no fool," said Cook County Circuit Court
Judge Sandra Otaka, an early political mentor.
Austriaco is a symbol of Northwest Chicago's growing Asian presence. The area has seen dramatic growth of its
minority population in recent years. Austriaco, who now lives in Park Ridge, estimates that the district is 12
percent Latino and 6 percent Asian.
The petite, raven-haired counselor is not only walking the 65th, but is also stacking up endorsements from
heavyweights like Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Secretary of State Jesse White and U.S. Rep. Jan
Schakowsky.
Even in a hapless year for Republicans, defeating a respected moderate legislator like Mulligan is not a cinch.
Still, look for a clue in the Feb. 5 Democratic and Republican primaries, where she and Mulligan each ran
unopposed.
Austriaco won 10,641 votes in the Democratic contest, compared with Mulligan's 5,358. On election night,
Mulligan shrugged it off by telling the Journal, a local community newspaper, that 2008 was "a very unusual
year." Many Republicans, she speculated, took Democratic ballots to weigh in on the epic battle between
Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton.
So Austriaco is hoofing away in her nurse's shoes, targeting the district's 25 to 30 precincts that trend
independent and moderate Republican. She is pushing many of the standard Democratic causes, like
education, health care and advocacy for the elderly.
The numerical clout of Asian Americans is small, but changing demographics may help them get their due. In
2002, voters elected Otaka as the first Asian-American judge in Cook County. Decorated Iraq war veteran Tammy
Duckworth made a strong, though losing, pitch for Illinois' 6th Congressional District in 2006, and is still a
political comer. Last year, 50th Ward community activist Naisy Dolar nearly ended the 34-year reign of Ald.
Bernard Stone.
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Ald. Ricardo Munoz, Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan, Ald. Tom Tunney, take
note: Asians are a key wedge group that could be a boon to ambitious, coalition-minded pols.