Tuesday, November 6 is Illinois’ General Election, including the governor’s office, the state attorney general, and every state legislative seat.
Illinois has made some significant reforms in its cannabis laws in recent years, including allowing
medical cannabis and reducing the penalty for simple possession to a civil fine. Meanwhile, a robust
conversation has begun about ending cannabis prohibition and replacing it with regulation and
taxation. Voters who support sensible cannabis policy should know where their elected officials and
candidates stand on these important issues.
Check out our voter guide below to find out where candidates stand on cannabis policy reform.
To compile this list, we looked for public statements on cannabis policy along with voting records for
significant cannabis legislation. Not all lawmakers have been in office dating back to 2013, so not all
have voting records for the bills listed.
To verify if you are registered to vote, and to find out which district you are in, visit the State Board of
Election’s voter registration lookup tool. For general questions, including locations for polling places,
visit the agencies main page, here.
If a candidate for office in your district doesn’t have any listed information, consider reaching out to
ask where they stand on regulating cannabis for adults. Let us know at state@mpp.org if you get
any new information!
Please check out our voter guide, and share this information with other Illinois voters. And don’t
forget to vote in the General Election!
Candidates for Governor
Candidate Name
Party
Decriminalization
Bill extending medical cannabis program
Bill to tax and regulate cannabis like alcohol
Grade
Comments
JB Pritzker
Dem
n/a
n/a
n/a
A+
“We don’t need more studies on this. We need to act. Let’s legalize cannabis. Let’s regulate it to make it safe. Let’s tax it. Let’s reinvest in the hardest hit communities.”
(Reference)
Bruce Rauner
Rep
Rauner vetoed the original decrim bill (HB 218) in 2015, which would have removed criminal penalties for up to 15g of cannabis; he signed the final bill in 2016, removing criminal penalties for up to 10g.
Signed
n/a
D
While not supportive of legalization, he signed a decriminalization bill and signed bills to extend the medical cannabis program.
Candidates for Attorney General
Candidate Name
Party
Decriminalization
Bill extending medical cannabis program
Bill to tax and regulate cannabis like alcohol
Grade
Comments
Kwame Raoul
Dem
Yes
Yes
n/a
A+
"Illinois has moved in the direction of legalization by way of supporting the use of medical cannabis and expanding upon that to cover more ailments. We have also moved to decriminalize possession of small amounts for personal use. The logical extension of these policies is to move toward legalization in a manner that appropriately regulates manufacture and distribution while taxing it capture the new economic activity that would accompany recreational use."
(Reference)
Erika Harold
Rep
n/a
n/a
n/a
A+
"If approached in a thoughtful and deliberate manner, legalization should enable law enforcement officials to redirect their time and resources towards addressing more critical issues (such as the opioid epidemic), expand Illinois’ tax base, and decrease the number of people serving sentences for non-violent, cannabis-related offenses."
(Reference)
Bill key:
HB1 – Original medical cannabis pilot program bill
SB2228 – Decriminalization bill
SB10 – Extended medical cannabis program to 2020, added PTSD
SB316/HB2353 – Adult-use legislation to tax and regulate cannabis like alcohol
HB4870 – Allows minor patients to have access while on school property
SB336 – Allows those who could get an opioid prescription and alternative, streamlined program
State Senate
Candidate Name
Party
District
HB1
SB2228
SB10
SB316/ HB2353
HB4col0
SB336
Mattie Hunter
D
3
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Patricia Van Pelt
D
5
NV
NV
Y
Co-Sponsor
Y
Y
John Cullerton
D
6
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Joan McCarthy Lasonde
R
9
Martin Sandoval
D
11
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Steven Landek
D
12
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Emil Jones
D
14
Y
Y
Co-Sponsor
NV
Y
Napoleon Harris
D
15
N
Y
Y
Y
NV
Elgie Sims, Jr.
D
17
Y
Y
Y
Y
Bill Cunningham
D
18
Y
Y
Y
Y
Iris Martinez
D
20
Y
Y
Y
Co-Sponsor
Y
Y
Michael Connelly
R
21
N
N
Y
Y
NV
Thomas Cullerton
D
23
N
Y
Y
Y
NV
Julie Morrison
D
29
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Terry Link
D
30
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Dave Syverson
R
35
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Neil Anderson
R
36
N
Y
Y
Y
Don Harmon
D
39
Y
Y
Y
Y
NV
Linda Holmes
D
42
Y
Y
Y
NV
Bill Brady
R
44
N
N
Y
Y
Y
Brian Stewart
R
45
N
Y
Y
N
Andy Manar
D
48
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Chapin Rose
R
51
N
N
Y
Y
Y
Jason Barickman
R
53
N
Y
NV
Co-Sponsor
Y
Y
State House
Candidate Name
Party
District
HB1
SB2228
SB10
SB316/ HB2353
HB 4col0
SB 336
Luis Arroyo
D
3
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Chris Welch
D
7
Y
Y
Y
Co-sponsor
Y
Y
La Shawn Ford
D
8
Y
E
Y
Y
E
Arthur Turner
D
9
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Melissa Conyears-Ervin
D
10
Y
Y
Ann Williams
D
11
Y
Y
Y
Co-sponsor
Y
Y
Sara Feigenholtz
D
12
Y
Y
Y
Co-sponsor
Y
Y
Greg Harris
D
13
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Kelly Cassidy
D
14
Y
Y
Y
Sponsor
Y
Y
John D'Amico
D
15
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz
D
17
Robyn Gabel
D
18
Y
Y
Y
Co-sponsor
E
Y
Robert Martwick
D
19
Y
Y
Y
Co-sponsor
Y
Y
Michael McAuliffe
R
20
N
P
Y
P
Michael Madigan
D
22
Y
Y
NV
NV
NV
Michael Zalewski
D
23
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Elizabeth Hernandez
D
24
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Christian Mitchell
D
26
Y
Y
Y
Co-sponsor
Y
Y
Justin Slaughter
D
27
Y
Y
Thaddeus Jones
D
29
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Will Davis
D
30
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Mary Flowers
D
31
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Andre Thapedi
D
32
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Marcus Evans
D
33
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Frances Hurley
D
35
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Kelly Burke
D
36
Y
Y
Y
Y
E
Margo McDermed
R
37
Y
Y
Y
Y
Debbie Meyers-Martin
D
38
Will Guzzardi
D
39
Y
Y
Co-sponsor
Y
Y
Jaime Andrade
D
40
Y
Y
NV
Y
Fred Crespo
D
44
N
N
Y
Y
Y
Christine Winger
R
45
N
N
Y
Y
Deb Conroy
D
46
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Keith Wheeler
R
50
Y
N
Y
Y
N
David McSweeney
R
52
N
Y
Y
Y
N
Tom Morrison
R
54
N
N
N
NV
N
Martin Moylan
D
55
N
N
Y
Y
N
Michelle Mussman
D
56
N
N
Y
Y
N
Jonathan Carroll
D
57
Y
N
Rita Mayfield
D
60
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Sheri Jesiel
R
61
N
N
Y
N
Sam Yingling
D
62
N
Y
Y
NV
Allen Skillicorn
R
66
Co-sponsor
E
Y
John Cabello
R
68
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Joe Sosnowski
R
69
N
N
N
E
N
Kathleen Willis
D
77
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Camille Lilly
D
78
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Lindsay Parkhurst
R
79
Y
Y
Anthony DeLuca
D
80
Y
Y
NV
NV
N
Jim Durkin
R
82
N
N
Y
Y
Y
Linda Chapa LaVia
D
83
Y
Y
Y
Co-Sponsor
Y
Y
Stephanie Kifowit
D
84
N
N
Y
Y
Y
Larry Walsh Jr.
D
86
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Keith Sommer
R
88
N
N
Y
NV
N
Tom Demmer
R
90
N
N
Y
E
N
Michael Unes
R
91
N
N
N
NV
N
Jehan Gordon-Booth
D
92
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Norine Hammond
R
93
N
N
Y
NV
Y
Avery Bourne
R
95
N
N
Y
N
Sue Scherer
D
96
N
N
N
Y
N
Mark Batinick
R
97
N
Y
Y
Y
Natalie Manley
D
98
N
N
N
Y
N
C.D. Davidsmeyer
R
100
N
NV
Y
NV
N
Carol Ammons
D
103
Y
Y
Y
Y
Dan Brady
R
105
N
N
Y
Y
N
Thomas Bennett
R
106
N
N
Y
N
Charlie Meier
R
108
N
N
Y
Y
N
Jay Hoffman
D
113
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
LaToya Greenwood
D
114
Y
Y
Terri Bryant
R
115
N
Y
Y
Y
Jerry Costello
D
116
N
N
N
Y
N
Natalie Phelps Finnie
D
118
N
N
N
Y
N
