Michael Simmons (born 1983) is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state, State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adop ...

from the 7th district. He was appointed to the office in February 2021 to replace retiring Senator

Heather Steans Heather Adeline Steans (born May 8, 1963) is a former Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 7th district. She was appointed after winning a special primary election that followed the mid-term resignation of her predecessor, ...

Early life and education

Simmons was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and raised in the Lincoln Square neighborhood. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

Political career

As an undergraduate student, Simmons worked as an intern in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

office of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. From 2007 to 2009, he worked as a staff assistant and legislative correspondent in the office of Senator Dick Durbin. From 2009 to 2011, he was the policy director for Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer. He served as policy director for Chicago Mayor

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...

from 2011 to 2013 and as deputy commissioner of the Chicago Department of Planning and Development from 2013 to 2016. Since September 2017, Simmons has operated Blue Sky Strategies, a public policy and consulting firm. In June 2020, Simmons became deputy director of My Brother's Keeper Alliance, an initiative managed by the

Obama Foundation The Barack Obama Foundation is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization founded in 2014. It oversees the creation of the Barack Obama Presidential Center, runs the My Brother's Keeper Alliance (a program Barack Obama began while he was president), ...

. On February 6, 2021, Simmons was appointed to the

, succeeding

. The appointment was made by elected committeepeople of the Cook County Democratic Party representing the wards and townships covered by the 7th district. State Representative

Kelly Cassidy Kelly Cassidy (born 1967/1968) is an American politician from Chicago. She is a Democrat and a member of the Illinois House of Representatives. She was appointed to represent the 14th district, on Chicago's North Side, in April 2011 following inc ...

was reported as the frontrunner for the appointment soon after Steans announced her retirement. However, Simmons secured the position after earning the support of 48th ward alderman Harry Osterman (who held the largest weighted share of the votes in the appointment process) and three other committeepeople. He is the first openly gay member of the Illinois State Senate. As of July 2022, Senator Simmons is a member of the following Illinois Senate committees: * Appropriations - Health Committee (SAPP-SAHA) * Behavioral and Mental Health Committee (SBMH) * Healthcare Access and Availability Committee (SHAA) * Redistricting - Chicago North Committee (SRED-SRCN) * Tourism and Hospitality Committee (STOU) * Transportation Committee (STRN)

LGBTQIA+ rights

Simmons supports transgender rights and supports providing gender affirming care to youth that identify as transgender. He introduced the ''Gender Affirming Healthcare Protection Act'' on November 22, 2022.

Gun control

Simmons supports gun control and describes himself as aggressively supporting gun control legislation, and says that he strongly supports a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines at the state and federal level.

References

1983 births 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century American politicians African-American people in Illinois politics Amherst College alumni Democratic Party Illinois state senators Gay politicians LGBT African Americans LGBT state legislators in Illinois Living people Politicians from Chicago {{Illinois-statesenator-stub