Illinois is facing a housing shortage, from Chicago and its suburbs to cities like Rockford and college towns like Champaign-Urbana and Bloomington-Normal.
Abundant Housing Illinois is a 501(c)(4) chapter of YIMBY Action that, along with its sister chapters CUrbanism in Champaign-Urbana and Rockford Area YIMBY, advocates for abundant housing and sustainable, inclusive cities throughout Illinois.
The housing shortage and affordability crisis is a political choice, and our governments - federal, state, and local - have the ability to change the status quo and ensure that everyone has a roof over their heads. Abundant Housing Illinois and its sister chapters endorse the following pro-housing candidates who are dedicated to ending the housing shortage
Scroll down and click on each candidate's name to read their questionnaire responses and scroll to the bottom of the page for a description of our endorsement process. We are also including links to the questionnaire forms for all the candidates that submitted answers.
Lt. Governor Stratton has championed housing programs that have eliminated over $33 million in student loan debt while helping families buy homes. She'll push to tie federal funding to zoning reform and cut red tape blocking new homes.
"If we want to lower housing costs, we have to build more homes. One obstacle to building more housing developments can be local zoning and permitting regulations that restrict and needlessly prolong the approval process."
Sen. Peters is the chief sponsor of the Build Illinois Homes tax credit and passed the Senior Property Tax Freeze expansion. He's ready to bring that same pro-housing energy to Congress.
"Federal dollars should not subsidize local governments that are actively blocking the homes Americans desperately need."
A labor leader who fights for working families, Driver supports legalizing more homes near transit, simplifying permits, and pushing back against exclusionary zoning.
"We must push back against exclusionary practices and ensure that decisions about land use center the needs of renters, workers, and families who are being priced out.
As Evanston's Mayor, Biss backed Envision Evanston's zoning reforms and supported a new 29-story apartment building. He'll reward cities that legalize more homes near transit and lower parking mandates.
"If we want to lower housing costs, we have to build more homes. A mix of outdated zoning rules, excessive red tape, and coordinated opposition from a small subset of residents routinely blocks or shrinks reasonable development proposals."
Blaha has a detailed plan to tie federal transportation dollars to pro-housing zoning, expand financing for affordable homes, and establish minimum standards that protect the right to build near jobs and transit.
"To fix our housing shortage, we need to treat housing like infrastructure: it's essential to the economy, to families, and to our climate goals."
Hanley has organized for fair housing on the North Shore since 2020 and helped push Northbrook toward more housing. He'll champion ADUs, duplexes, and by-right permitting in Springfield.
"Affordability is a north star for my campaign and for my politics. We must pull all levers to increase the supply and development of new units. When it comes to the hundreds of thousands of missing housing units in Illinois and tackling our affordability crisis, it's all hands on deck."
Rivera supports the Reclaiming Chicago initiative to return vacant homes to neighborhood families. She's a co-teacher in her community, connecting families to homeownership resources and fighting displacement.
"When I learned about YIMBY and Abundant Housing Illinois, I joined because building more housing must go hand in hand with protecting renters."
Franklin wants to expand options for families, seniors, and working residents who are being priced out. She supports ADUs, townhomes, and by-right permitting.
"By allowing a mix of housing types, including duplexes, triplexes, small apartment buildings, and ADUs, we can increase supply, lower costs, and ensure that every municipality does its fair share to address the housing shortage."
Kendrick supports ADUs, the People Over Parking legislation, single-staircase reform, and the Missing Middle Housing Act. He wants a "shot clock" approach to speed up permitting.
"Chicago and communities across Illinois face a housing shortage that drives up costs and squeezes working families. Housing costs would come down, and the city would grow if we built enough to offer housing options to all who want to live here."
O'Brien helped pass historic school funding reform and brings that legislative skill to housing. He supports statewide ADUs, duplexes and fourplexes by-right, and ending parking mandates.
"There are a total of seven three-bedroom homes under $500,000 for sale in a district of approximately 110,000 people. I consistently hear from people at the doors (canvassing) how expensive rent is and stories about bidding against as many as twenty other applicants just for a place to live."
Rep. Andrade voted yes on the People Over Parking Act and multiple affordable housing bills. He supports ADUs, zoning reform, by-right permitting, and the Build Illinois Homes Tax Credit.
"I have long supported policies that are pro-housing throughout my career."
As an Arlington Heights Village Trustee, Canty helped pass their municipal affordable housing ordinance. She supports ADUs, duplexes, townhomes, and stronger accountability for communities blocking homes.
"Affordable housing [should be] integrated as much as possible with market rate housing to create communities where families of all incomes can live side by side."
Rep. Mussman co-sponsored nine pro-housing bills this session including ADU legalization and the Affordable Communities Act. She serves on the House Housing Committee and works with local mayors on regional solutions.
"The state can modify parking requirements, invest in transit-oriented development, create options for duplexes and ADUs, and prevent municipalities from denying qualifying projects only due to NIMBY complaints."
Rep. West supports duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, ADUs, and reducing parking mandates. He wants to make it easier for builders to create new homes where demand is outpacing supply..
"Our district is facing a real housing shortage. We're projected to need 3,000 to 9,000 new homes in the next decade to keep up with demand. Families are competing for limited homes, rents are rising, and too many residents are struggling to find affordable, stable housing."
Commissioner Lowry backed the Cook County Land Bank's role in Englewood's first new family housing in 50 years and supports down payment assistance, legal aid for tenants, and the modular homes program.
"Bringing down costs requires both building more housing and eliminating the barriers that make development expensive. The County is already doing this work, but must continue scaling its efforts."
Cade served on the Volunteers of America Illinois board, building affordable housing for veterans and families. He'll cut red tape and make it easier for local nonprofits to build dignified, affordable homes.
"An increase in housing stock will lead to lower housing costs, give Cook County residents more choices in finding a home, and increase the property tax base to help lower individual property owners' tax burden."
Warren is a founding member of Chicago Growth Project and has lobbied in Springfield for fourplex zoning, ADUs, and parking reform. He'll push missing middle reforms in unincorporated Cook County and reform the Land Bank.
"I've been part of Abundant Housing Illinois for almost my entire time in Chicago. The housing shortage is the biggest issue facing our city’s future. Chicago should be a place where people can live their whole lives. We need to have an abundant variety of housing to accommodate people’s needs as their lives unfold."
White supports universal fourplexes by-right, ADUs, eliminating parking mandates, and single-stair reform. He wants to rezone all residential unincorporated Cook County to allow more homes.
"Build. More. Housing. The best course of action is to expand the number of parcels subject to taxation. By increasing the number of parcels, we spread the total tax levy over a greater number of taxpayers and decrease the amount each individual pays."
