Christian Mitchell (A.B. ’08) is the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor of Illinois on a joint ticket with Governor J. B. Pritzker, who is seeking his third term. Mitchell replaced current Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton as Pritzker’s running mate after she announced her decision to run for Senate.
Mitchell earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago and represented Illinois’s 26th district—which includes parts of UChicago’s campus—as a state representative from 2013 to 2019. He served as deputy governor during Pritzker’s first term from 2019 until 2023, when he returned to UChicago as vice president for civic engagement.
Ahead of next week’s election, the Maroon spoke to Mitchell to learn more about his campaign, political background, and work at UChicago.
Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Could you start by telling me about your background, where you grew up, and how those experiences shaped your worldview?
I grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago, [in] Maywood and Westchester, about 20 miles west of here. My mother still lives in the house that I grew up in. More than anyone else, my mother Debbie, my grandfather James, and my grandmother Lily shaped my worldview. My mom was a neonatal intensive care nurse and later a nursing manager, so she took care of the smallest, most vulnerable patients in the hospital for 38 years of her career. Very cool, very much my hero, and also the origin of my science fiction love—though she incorrectly likes *Star Trek* more than *Star Wars*. My grandfather was a union steelworker, an army soldier who fought in Korea, and a leader in our church growing up. They are the foundation of my faith and both people who, in different ways, served in public service.
Maywood and Westchester were very interesting places to be in the ’90s. Maywood was probably 95 percent African American, and [in] Westchester, where my mother bought a house, I think we were the second African American family on the block. It was always interesting—they were separated by a physical hill—to go back and forth between these two worlds, and in some ways, thus be a child of two worlds.
I had a pretty normal suburban life until I was about nine, then everybody got very sick. I wear a breast cancer ribbon because my mother is now a 26-year survivor—she was diagnosed in 1999. My grandparents both got sick, one with Alzheimer’s, one with congestive heart failure, and that really turned our lives upside down.
Part of what started me on the path to public service was that I wanted to take the pain away from my family, but also from anyone else. To see three people who had worked all their lives, all of a sudden arguing with insurance companies and trying to figure out how to rob Peter to pay Paul to pay their bills—those experiences really shaped me. Given all that had just happened to my family, I wanted to stay close, which is why I applied to the University of Chicago.
What impact did being a student at UChicago have on you? Were you involved with the local community at that time?
The University was one of my most formative experiences. One thing that I love is that it teaches you to question everything. Nothing is axiomatic. If you say the sky is blue, the question is, “What is blue? What is sky?” We had shirts at the public policy school that said, “That’s good in practice, but what about in theory?” That’s [going] a little far. But questioning everything is really important. I’ve taken into my public life an ability to take the other side of an argument.
The context in which I met many of my mentors here was one of the ways in which the University was a bit more of a difficult place. I was one of a couple dozen American-born African Americans—there were 120 or so Black and Caribbean students on campus—when I was here. You’d often look up in a class and find that you were the only [one]. My second year, a bunch of kids got together and held what they called “a little ghetto straight thuggin’ party.” They did what, I guess in their mind, all people of color did on weekends, and dressed up as thugs and gangsters or whatever. It was a wake-up call for me.
I had this interesting view that racism is stupid; therefore, stupid people are racist; therefore, at this place with all these smart people, I should see not much of that. That worldview shattered. It made me realize that to see the kind of world I wanted, I’d have to put in some work. As difficult as that time was, I was inspired by students across the spectrum of race who stepped up and said, “This is not cool or okay. We have to do better, recruit more professors and students of color, and teach more about the legacy of American racism.”
That put me on a path. I met Will Burns, who was my great political mentor. He had been the deputy chief of staff to [the] Illinois Senate president. He’d worked for Obama in 2000 when he ran for Congress, and I met him through John Easton, a Ph.D. sociology student who was my resident head. All of that, here, was the rocket ship that took me off on my career.
Why did you return to work at UChicago, and what are you particularly proud of from your time as vice president for civic engagement?
I was, in some ways, shocked [that] I got hired, because the first time I was at Levi Hall, I was protesting outside. But I think there were a couple reasons. One, I got along well with President Alivisatos. He’s an incredibly smart person, but also very community-oriented and compassionate. He gave me free rein to say, “Hey, what does the University’s relationship with the South Side need to look like?” I always had an affection for the University, but I was also always pushing it. That’s exactly what they wanted me for, which I really appreciated.
The biggest thing that I was proud of during my time here is the project that the University is doing in partnership with Malcolm X College on 55th Street. The University hospital will build new pathology labs and create a bunch of new jobs, and Malcolm X will build a [50,000]-square-feet, state-of-the-art facility to train laboratory technicians. These are jobs that start between $40,000 to $60,000 with an associate’s degree.… The University will pay for folks [who work at UChicago Medicine] to go get their bachelor’s degree and give them clinical rotations, which expands Malcolm X’s capacity. Now, all of a sudden, you’re making more than 100 grand, and you’re barely in your early 20s.
[The project is] coupled with a reinvigoration of the nursing program at Kennedy King [College], one stop away on the Green Line. That is an example of the University doing something that to me is a win-win-win, which is to say, the University needs laboratory technicians to make sure it stops outsourcing those tests and costing more money. The community desperately needs jobs, economic development, and anchor tenants that are going to help bring more jobs and more housing to Washington Park. A lot of places in the city have a challenge with continuing to grow without displacing residents. Washington Park just needs people, we need density. So, that’s a really big deal. And, of course, it means that the community gets a win. So, everybody wins.
Looking back at your time as state representative for the 26th District, from 2013 to 2019, and deputy governor, from 2019 to 2023, was there anything there you were proud of or any challenges that you faced?
As a state rep, the thing I was probably most proud of was my work on changing the education funding formula and going to the evidence-based funding formula (EBF). It now tiers our schools by need and makes sure that schools—like [Chicago Public Schools], but also a bunch of school districts around the state—get the resources that they need based on the student population they have, the needs of those students, the mandated “categoricals” [services that the state requires school districts to provide but that it does not fund through EBF] for some of our English language learners and special needs students, et cetera.
It’s a very big deal, and it is transforming public education. There are 3 billion new dollars that we put into that formula since J. B. [Pritzker] became governor. It’s a big deal.
I will say, being a state rep acquainted me with failure. I had to learn why bills failed. I had to learn what it meant to say, “What is your role in this process?” Because sometimes you’re the person who introduces the bill. Sometimes you’re the person who advances the cause. Sometimes you’re the person who gets the thing over the finish line. And knowing where you are in that process is what allows you to be successful.
When I think about my time as deputy governor, the things I’m proudest of are the legislative agenda we accomplished: putting the state on a path to 100 percent clean energy by 2050, doing so in an equity-focused way that’s going to create new opportunities for communities historically locked out of the current economy; the infrastructure bill that got our infrastructure up to some of the best in the nation; the assault weapons ban that’s keeping weapons of war off our streets. As a member of the Illinois Air National Guard, I am trained on these weapon systems. I know what they can do, and while they are necessary for SWAT teams and troops in combat, a thing that can throw a bullet at 3,000 meters per second is super not needed on the streets of a place like Chicago or Wilson or Belleville. Those are the things I’m proudest of. And my people! Bria Scudder is now deputy governor in my place. She is much better at the job than I ever was.
What made you decide to run for lieutenant governor, and what are some of the biggest issues that you’re hoping to tackle?
I was enjoying my job here at the University and getting ready to try teaching a class. J. B. [Pritzker] called me and said, “Let’s go to breakfast.” I knew Juliana [Stratton] was running [for Senate], so in the back of my mind, I was like, “Could this be about…?” And it was. What got me to say yes is the moment that we’re in. I was at the University watching academic research get cut and funding for things that could eventually help cure Alzheimer’s—which obviously had a devastating impact on my own family and grandmother—get slashed. I had a limited ability to speak my mind, because I was an officer working at a nonprofit university, and thus things that I said could reflect on the University. I had more that I wanted to say and felt like J. B. was the person to say and do it with.
When you get a chance to step up, defend friends and neighbors, and advance a more positive vision, a chance to make sure that Illinois is a state where everyone can not just survive but thrive, that we continue to raise wages and lower costs, to create a foundation so that where and how you’re born is only your starting place and is never your fate… that’s the sort of thing that you say yes to.
In terms of issues I want to work on, economic development matters a great deal. When I think about some of our commercial corridors not far from the University—75th Street, 79th Street—that used to be thriving in earlier generations. When I think about places like Madison on the West Side, when I think about Belleville, or Alton, or Charleston, or Macomb, or Rockford, or any number of cities that I could name, that are doing all that they can but still need a bit more help finding ways to make their streets more attractive to business, make it more livable for people, [and] more affordable for people. Those are things I’ll be very interested in.
Illinois has committed approximately $500 million in state funding to the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, a project that has been touted for the economic investment it’s bringing to the far South Side, but some community members have criticized it for its potential negative environmental and economic impacts on residents. How do you weigh those concerns, and how would you approach the issue as lieutenant governor?
I know the Southeast Side has a long history of, frankly, being a dumping ground. So, that is a well-founded and reasonable concern. A lot of people are asking questions about the usage of power, the usage of water, all those sorts of things. That is why we need to pass something like the Power Act. That basically says, for some of these hyperscale [data center projects] that want to come to places like Illinois, you’ve got to have a closed loop water system, make sure you bring your own energy, not have NDAs that keep the community from knowing what you’re going to do. For anybody doing work in that park, those are standards we think they ought to abide by.
Number two, this used to be a thriving steel plant employing [around] 20,000 people, and it’s been vacant for a very long time. This is a genuinely exciting development. I know that people are concerned about what it means for the South Side and if these are just going to be jobs for eggheads in white lab coats from the University of Chicago. When I was here as [vice president] of civic engagement, we worked with the City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago State University—a predominantly Black institution that produces [one of the largest numbers] of Black physicists in the country—to say, “Are there jobs that require an associate’s degree, a bachelor’s degree, even just a technical degree or a certificate that are going to pay good living wages and have career tracks for folks?”
In addition, to the folks who will need master’s degrees and Ph.D.s, I believe many of those folks can be from the South Side because there is a wealth of this talent there. Communities asking all the right questions can be a really good thing, and they deserve really good answers, which I do believe are there.
How would a Pritzker–Mitchell administration respond to federal threats to research funding that affect universities like UChicago? What can the state do to protect international students who have their visas revoked?
It’s hard. Whatever we can do as a state to try to protect folks and preserve research funding, we’re going to do. But the truth is, the state doesn’t have the money to replace this stuff dollar for dollar. People ask why J. B. is campaigning outside of the state of Illinois. The answer is research funding, Medicaid funding, funding for our farmers, and food stamps for poor children, [which] should not be partisan. And yet, it is, so we need a durable Democratic majority in the House and Senate. We’re raising our voices, using the bully pulpit, hosting folks who are coming in from out-of-state to try to raise resources in the state of Illinois. We can’t do it on our own. We’ve got to make sure we get the right people in place to hold those administrators accountable and reverse the cuts.
What do you think sets you apart from your opponent Aaron Del Mar, and why did you decline to participate in a televised debate with him?
Let me answer the second question first. From my research, there has never been a lieutenant governor debate in the state of Illinois.
What separates me from Aaron Del Mar is, first of all, experience. I feel very lucky to still be at a relatively young age, but having a lot of relevant experience, having been a state legislator, run the Democratic Party of Illinois, and then been a deputy governor presiding over everything from infrastructure to energy to disaster relief. I managed some of our largest agencies: Department of Corrections, Department of Transportation, Illinois Commerce Commission, Emergency Management Agency, [and] Department of Military Affairs.
But I think the most important thing that separates us is our values. This is a person who said that women coming to the state of Illinois fleeing oppression in other states and trying to exercise their bodily autonomy are coming here just to sin against God. That’s an actual quote from the guy.
He talked about reaching through a screen and choking [Pritzker] the other day, which is wild on a number of levels. He’s clearly unfit for office. He thinks that he ought to be making decisions that I think should be left to a woman and her doctor. He believes the state of Illinois ought to continue to suffer under the yoke of a wannabe dictator in Donald Trump. He’s cool with these cuts to Medicaid and SNAP [and] is cool with what’s happening to the fabric of our society. I just don’t think the people of Illinois are down for that.
There’s been speculation that Governor Pritzker might run for president. Would you endorse such a campaign, and what would be your own next steps?
I think J. B. would be a fantastic president—but that’s why it’s so good that he’s running for re-election as governor of Illinois. As fellow nerds, you may know that Illinois has a fairly grave history relative to what governors are famous for nationally—it generally involves orange jumpsuits and handcuffs. We have a governor who has turned the state around, who took us from a 736-day budget impasse and a bunch of credit rating downgrades to 12 credit rating upgrades, the best infrastructure in the country, and an education system ranked fifth. People are looking up and saying, “That’s the kind of leadership that we need to help turn the nation around.” That’s why it’s so good that he wants to finish the job here in Illinois.
Many students have the choice to vote here or in their home states. Why should they vote in this race and care about the district they go to school in?
If you are voting in Texas or Michigan, you should do that, because we’ve got contested races there. A lot of people think Democrats have this in the bag, that Illinois is a blue state. We are not a blue state. We are a purple state. We’re going to compete for every vote and when we win, J. B. and I are going to be a governor and lieutenant governor for everybody, regardless of who voted for us. But your vote matters, and getting out to the polls can really send a message to Washington about how much people are fed up with what’s happening.
Do you have any advice for students who would like to effect political change? Do you think running for office is the best way to do so?
There are a lot of ways to effect change in the world. Running for office was the way to do that for me. There are great community organizers, lawyers, [and] people who are taking UChicago economics degrees and using them to do innovative things. The question is, what makes your soul sing? What gets you excited to wake up in the morning? If you had told me how my path was going to get me to where I am, I would’ve stared at you blankly and thought that I was in the middle of a Kafka novel. Be yourself, take your time. There are very few bad decisions that you can make. Find really smart mentors, find really great friends, and be loyal to them.
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