Political party

Democratic

Age

52

Town of residence

Naperville

Current occupation and employer

Senior Independent Assessor, Argonne National Laboratory

Education

Grinnell College (1987, Mathematics)
University of Iowa Master's in Applied Statistics (1990)

Immediate family

My husband, Pete Ellman, is a musician and co-owns a music store in Naperville. My two children, Lizzie and Barrett, both attend Naperville Central High School.

Website

[ ellmanforillinois.com ]

Civic involvement and volunteer work

Naperville Fair Housing Commission (July 2014-present) and Precinct Committeeman in Lisle Township (2018). I have also been involved as an ESL Tutor and working with Habitat for Humanity and Toastmasters.

Previous elected offices held

None. I am a first-time candidate.

What should Illinois do to improve its business climate and promote job growth?

In 2015, Illinois created 81,000 jobs. In 2016, just 18,000. We know that this is because of the budget impasse and our fiscal mismanagement, making businesses hesitant about Illinois. We must strengthen our middle class and create more opportunity for our young people to succeed. We’ve got to look at our options to bring in more revenue while reducing the tax burden on lower income and middle-class families. This will drive demand and propel growth, helping residents and businesses stay in Illinois. We must also reinvest in our state universities. This will help bring more young people here and stop the “brain drain” to other states, while creating a hub of research, innovation, and technology jobs centered around our universities. We have a highly skilled and educated workforce with diverse, hard working communities and diverse economies. We can foster entrepreneurship, support small businesses, and invest in research and technology.

What gun control measures do you support at the state level?

Common-sense gun reform to keep our loved ones safe is key. I am in support of the laws that recently passed like the Lethal Violence Order of Protection Act, which allows people and loved ones to have law enforcement remove a weapon from people who pose a threat to themselves or others, and the 72 hour waiting period before making gun purchases. I also support increasing the minimum age for purchases to keep teenagers from owning their own weapons as well as the bill to combat straw purchases and illegal gun trafficking.

What are your thoughts on the steps Illinois has taken to address its pension crisis? What additional reforms are necessary?

Springfield has, for decades and both sides of the aisle, failed to pay its pension obligations and has not been fiscally responsible. Our current system is unsustainable. Investors know this, and this cloud is driving down investment in our state and holding back growth. We need to get our fiscal house in order and that includes this liability. We need to create a sustainable plan to address the liabilities. This means decent estimates of the liability and outflows over time to ensure we meet obligations. Ways to improve the situation include consolidating the funds to reduce operating and management costs, and to allow for investing for greater rates of return, and amortizing with more uniform payments over a longer period of time.

The current political climate across the United States seems more divided than ever. What will you do to foster cooperation and compromise among members of the Illinois General Assembly?

I have worked in engineering and manufacturing working with different sets of teams and people to solve problems. My skills in team building, managing competing interests, and approaching problems with facts and a focus on solving problems helps me to foster cooperation. I am running because we have seen to many blame games and partisan potshots in Springfield and not enough solutions. I will work across the aisle to advocate for common sense solutions and get back to good governing.