Local Democrats gathered Sunday evening for the Democratic Party of Evanston’s annual member meeting, which was held at a private residence in northwest Evanston. Attendees were joined by Christian Mitchell, the deputy governor of Illinois under Gov. JB Pritzker from 2019 to 2023 and candidate for lieutenant governor this year.
“I am a huge fan of local Democratic parties,” Mitchell told the RoundTable. “I was executive director of the Democratic Party for a while myself, and one thing I cared a lot about was making sure that we had the resources at our local parties to do the outreach — not just the outreach, but the in-depth organizing.”
Mitchell worked closely with State Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-18th District) , the new DPOE committeewoman, during his own time serving the 26th district in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019. The two collaborated on the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act.
Organizing here and everywhere
Mitchell shared some of his priorities with the RoundTable in an interview before he spoke at Sunday’s event.
“I believe in organizing fundamentally,” he said. “I believe in going door to door and talking to people. I’m grateful that folks are doing that here.”
While that door-to-door organizing happens in Illinois, Mitchell said efforts modeled after Operation Swing State — where local Democrats traveled to places like Wisconsin and Michigan ahead of the 2024 election to support Democratic candidates there — are also important moving forward.
“JB and I are going to do all we can here to make sure Illinois keeps growing, that we’re fighting to protect healthcare and that we can protect people who’ve been hurt by SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] cuts and Donald Trump’s tariffs,” he said. “But the truth is, the federal government has to step up.”
Flipping Congress back to Democratic Party control in the upcoming midterm elections, Mitchell said, is key. The U.S. House currently has 218 Republicans, 212 Democrats, one independent and four vacancies, while the Senate has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents.
Closer to home, Mitchell is also hoping to show Illinois in this election cycle that the state’s Democratic Party is not just made up of “city elites.”
“Chicago is an amazing city. Illinois is much more than Chicago,” he said. “It is very rural.”
He cited the work of Illinois farmers and their impact on food supply chains as one example of the state’s influence beyond the Chicago area. These are people that Illinois Democrats need to work with, he stressed.
“Even if we don’t agree on everything,” Mitchell said, “we believe that people we may disagree with are worthy of respect and being listened to.”
Gabel also spoke to local party organizing, and how she believes Evanston Democrats are in a good position to make a difference in important races.
“I think it’s strong,” Gabel said of the party. “I think we just have to figure out where exactly to put our forces.”
That could mean supporting Democratic candidates in neighboring Midwestern swing states, she said, or some closer to home who might need extra resources.
Lieutenant governor candidate joins annual Evanston Democrats meeting is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston’s most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.
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July 26, 2026 at 08:53PM
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