Will County Gazette

Pastor Chris Butler stopped by Frankfort in his campaign to for the Democrats nomination in Illinois’ 1st Congressional District.

“U.S. congressional candidate for the 1st District of Illinois, Pastor Chris Butler, stopped by Frankfort Village Hall,” the Butler campaign said in an email. "Mayor Frank Ogle gave the 'home school class’ (Azaria) a civics lesson and a tour of the Village Board Chambers."

Butler and his daughter Azaria “also looked at the artwork created by students from Chelsea Intermediate School (assembled by Jamie Maisuria with the Frankfort Arts Association.)”

“Eight hundred students created these beautiful origami butterflies from repurposed books,” Chris Butler for Congress posted on Facebook. “Do like Azaria and me and check them out the Frankfort Village Hall. #FlyTogether”

Butler, 35, is Senior Pastor at the Chicago Embassy Church, with locations in Chicago’s Kenwood neighborhood and South Holland. A married father of five, Butler is an independent Democrat endorsed by former U.S. Reps Dan Lipinski (D-IL) and David Bonior (D-MI).

In 2004, Butler worked as the youth and young adult coordinator on former President Barack Obama’s 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate.

“Pastor Butler’s background highlights his ability to bring unity between diverse groups,” the campaign said. “As the senior pastor of the Chicago Embassy Church Network, based in South Holland, Illinois, Pastor Chris has launched various initiatives serving at the local, state and national level.”

He worked in education reform as deputy campaign manager for A+ Illinois and as advocacy director for New Schools for Chicago. Butler also co-founded the Chicago Peace Campaign to reimagine public safety, as well as the And (&) Campaign, a nonprofit organization that promotes civic engagement nationwide, and has co-authored Compassion (&) Conviction: The AND Campaign's Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement. 

Butler is recognized for being a centrist. He said that he is being encouraged to run to put an end to individuals on both sides of the aisle "demonizing" each other.

“We can’t build on separate coalitions if we refuse to talk to each other, if we demonize each other over every little issue,” he told Beverly Review.

According to the Illinois State Board of Elections, there are 20 candidates running for the Democrat nomination in Illinois' First Congressional District. They include Butler, State Sen. Jacqui Collins (D-Chicago), Chicago Third Ward Alderman Pat Dowell, Community Activist Jahmal Cole, Attorney Cassandra Goodrum, beer distributor co-owner and son of Rev. Jesse Jackson, Jonathan Jackson, former Cook County manager Karin Norington-Reaves, former U.S. postal worker Marcus E. Lewis, Compliance lawyer Michael A. Thompson, Jr., Teacher Darius "Dee" Nix, Pastor and "social justice" speaker Stephany Rose Spaulding, University of St. Francis Professor Terre Layng Rosner, Realtor Robert A. Palmer, CPS Teacher Kirby Birgans, private investigator Steven DeJoie, Legal Aid Chicago Treasurer Howard L. Spiller, former Illinois Criminal Justice Authority Deputy Director Charise Williams, Chicago "violence interruptor" Ameena N. Matthews, Realtor Nykea Pippion McGriff, and Hyde Park liquor store owner and former Chicago elections commissioner Jonathan T. Swain.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL), first elected in 1993, has opted not to run for re-election.