After Democrats won big during midterm election, Chicago supporters rally for 'productive change'

Over 100 Democratic supporters gathered at Federal Plaza in the Loop Saturday afternoon to rally following Tuesday's midterm election results.

The rally comes days after Democrats won big in Illinois and across the nation — regaining control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

"We saw something incredible happen on Tuesday across the country," Daniel Biss, representative-elect of the 9th District of Illinois, told supporters. "Y'all did your job, and now it's time for people like me to do our job."

Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times

Nubia Batista-Willman, who attended the rally, was "pleasantly shocked" by the election results nationwide, but wants newly elected officials to be thinking about accountability.

"I really want folks to be ready to engage with [the] community to know exactly what's happening on the ground to make sure they're thinking about accountability and what that means," Batista-Willman, who came to the rally from Pilsen, said. "For me, that's a real priority that we have to have accountability about what happened to make sure it never happens again."

Melody Rose, 46 of Rogers Park, has lived in Chicago for over 20 years after growing up in Tennessee. She said the results were "really encouraging" but wanted to see additional progress.

"We can all we can exhale, but we also need to keep moving and keep planning and keep making productive change that's going to help people," said Rose.

Rose echoed the sentiments of Batista-Willman when it came to emphasizing the importance of accountability.

"Change looks like accountability and actual strides to help the American people and end the [Iran] war," Rose said. "Invest in the people and do it now because we know it can be done."

Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times

Michael Aaron and his wife have knocked on doors in Michigan to help the secure support for the Democratic party. For the 70-year-old Hyde Park resident, his participation in elections and political organizing is a civic duty he wants to pass to younger generations of his family.

"I need to be able to look my grandchildren in the eye and tell them that when it mattered, and I had the time to act [and] I used it," Aaron said. "If we're not active and if we don't get involved and try to make it better, well, what we have could slip away."