Wed. July 17, 2013
Chicago, IL -
Illinois Unites for Marriage—the coalition pushing the state's same-sex marriage bill—has announced an aggressive campaign to bring marriage equality to the state, and at the center of that effort is a new campaign manager.
John Kohlhepp, a longtime campaign organizer and union lobbyist, has been tasked with passing The Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, after the bill fell short of the 60 votes in needed to pass before Spring session in May.
Now, Kohlhepp said, $2 million has been budgeted for the 113-day push, with 15-20 organizers being hired to pass the bill by an ambitious 71 votes.
Kohlhepp, who lobbied for the bill on behalf of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), grew up in New York and attended Tulane University in New Orleans. He ran political campaigns for Congresswoman Lauren Beth Gash and state Rep. Elaine Nekritz. He worked for the Blagojevich administration in 2003, ran the New Americans Vote project of the Illinois Coalition for the Immigrant and Refugee Rights and worked for Service Employees International Union. In 2006, he began lobbying for AFSCME, where he pushed for the passage of equal marriage this year.
Read the Windy City Times interview with John Kohlhepp
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