Clement Balanoff, Jr. is an American politician and the national political director for the

Amalgamated Transit Union The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) is a labor organization in the United States and Canada that represents employees in the public transit industry. Established in 1892 as the Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees of America, the un ...

. He served as a Democratic member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

from 1989 to 1995.

Biography

He was born April 16, 1953, in Chicago to a politically active family. His father Clem Balanoff, Sr. was a prominent union organizer and his mother Miriam Balanoff would become a circuit court judge. In 1981, Clem moved to California for five years, where he worked as an aide for Congressman Matthew Martínez and later Congressman

Esteban Torres Esteban Edward Torres (January 27, 1930 – January 25, 2022) was an American politician who served as member of the United States House of Representatives for California's 34th congressional district from 1983 to 1999. Early life Torres was bo ...

. He returned to Illinois to take a job as the 10th Ward Superintendent, responsible for garbage pickup and other city services. A year later when

Ed Vrdolyak Edward Robert Vrdolyak (; born December 28, 1937), also known as "Fast Eddie", is a former American politician and lawyer. He was a longtime Chicago alderman and the head of the Cook County Democratic Party until 1987 when he ran unsuccessfully ...

defected to the Republican Party, Balanoff became the Democratic Committeeman for the 10th ward. In 1988, he defeated incumbent Sam Panayotovich, who had defected to the Republican Party with Vrdolyak. In 1991, he ran for Alderman in a field of ten opponents losing to John Buchanan, who previously served in the role in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1994, he was one of five candidates who ran in the Democratic primary to succeed retiring incumbent George Sangmeister.

Frank Giglio Frank Giglio (born November 9, 1933) is an American plumber and politician. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Giglio served in the United States Army. He went to Saint Joseph's College and then received his bachelor's degree from Governors State Univer ...

, a fellow member of the Illinois House, won the Democratic primary. Frank Giglio was defeated in the general election by

Jerry Weller Gerald Cameron Weller (born July 7, 1957) is an American politician who was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing . As of 2015, Weller is the managing principal of New World Group Public Affairs, a lobbying grou ...

. In 1996, Balanoff was Weller's opponent losing by a three percentage point margin. He explored a rematch in 1998, but chose to run for a seat on the

Cook County Board of Review The Cook County Board of Review is an independent office created by statute by the Illinois General Assembly and is governed by three commissioners who are elected by district for two- or four-year terms. Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, which in ...

instead before dropping out prior to the primary. His post-electoral career has included stints as Chief of Staff to the Cook County Clerk, a strategist for the mayoral campaign of

Chuy García Jesús G. "Chuy" García (born April 12, 1956) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 4th district since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, as well a ...

and Illinois state director for the

presidential campaign President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of Vermont Senator

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. At the

2016 Democratic National Convention The 2016 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention, held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25 to 28, 2016. The convention gathered delegates of the Democratic Party, the majo ...

Balanoff read the vote totals for Senator Sanders' Illinois campaign. As of August 2017, Balanoff is the executive director for the Illinois chapter of

Our Revolution Our Revolution (sometimes known by its initials OR) is an American progressive political action organization spun out of Senator Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign to continue its work. The organization's mission is to educate vote ...

; a pro-Sanders organization. Balanoff served as the co-chair of Ameya Pawar's campaign for

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in the 2019 municipal election and served as the campaign manager of Abdelnasser Rashid's unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic nomination for the Cook County Board of Review's 1st district. As of 2020, Balanoff is the national political director of the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balanoff, Clem 1953 births Living people Politicians from Chicago Ripon College (Wisconsin) alumni Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Amalgamated Transit Union people