CAMPAIGN ENERGY: I played poker for the first time earlier this fall! Even though I lost my first game, I enjoyed hanging out with folks from different LGBTQIA+ communities who regularly get together to play poker and just get to know them.

This holiday season, I’m thinking of Mickii’s Desserts in Rogers Park and how sweet it is to support our small businesses across the 9th District. Mickii and her family’s recipes—four generations old—have called this district home for over a decade—I’m so lucky to have her support, and her desserts!

I symbolize everything Donald Trump is trying to erase. Asked about serving in Congress during the last two years of this admin at a @chicagodsa.bsky.social forum, I said I’d bring my agency and lived experiences to the fight. We have no other choice, and I’m the person to deliver that message. 🌹

Chicago, we go way back. Proud to be a fourth generation north-side Chicagoan on my mom’s side. Talking about the 400 block of North State, one of my favorite blocks in the city.

As a lifelong public transportation user and transit nerd, it’s been a week for the books: Gov. Pritzker signed a $1.5 billion transit bill, and I caught one of my favorite Chicago traditions: the CTA holiday train! So proud to have the support of 14,000+ transit workers in Chicagoland (and Santa!)

I have had the privilege of working alongside the 48th Ward Neighbors for Justice over my tenure in the state senate to advance policies to lift up the multiracial working class of Edgewater, Andersonville, and Uptown.

Signage of the public transit bill today was a big moment for those who ride public transit, and I am deeply proud to use transit and to have helped drive the legislation and push it over the finish line!

📣NEW ENDORSEMENT! 📣Firefighters make major sacrifices everyday to keep us all safe. I have such a deep respect and appreciation for firefighters, and am proud to earn the endorsement of the Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2! I’ll always stand with and champion our firefighters!

Less photo ops, more fighters! The 9th District deserves more than just someone who will vote the right way and say the right things. We need a Representative who will be an active champion for our rights, especially when it’s inconvenient or uncomfortable.

Yesterday, I stood with the inspiring voices of Starbucks Workers United on the picket line to kick off a Global Day of Action.

Yesterday I was proud to join @icirr.bsky.social for the historic bill signing of HB1312, now law that counters ICE in Illinois. I will continue to forcefully resist ICE, call for its abolition, and push for further protections in the spring legislative session!

I stood in solidarity with @pslweb.bsky.social protesters downtown this weekend, saying NO to war with Venezuela. Trump and Pete Hegseth are dragging us into another forever war where mega-rich oligarchs just get richer.

📣📣 ATTENTION TRANSIT RIDERS! I have been endorsed in my race for Congress in Illinois 9th District by two major transit unions representing thousands of our CTA train conductors and maintenance crews (ATU 308) and 10,000 CTA and Pace bus operators (ATU 241)!

Rail workers are an essential part in the economic, environmental, and cultural fabric of our city: I'm incredibly honored to have their support for my campaign, and to be their champion in Congress!

NEW ENDORSEMENT! Deeply proud and grateful to earn the support of @cbcpac.bsky.social in Illinois’ 9th District! I can’t wait to join the “Conscience of Congress” as the first Ethiopian-American and Black Representative of Chicago's Far North Side and its North and Northwest suburbs.

This Small Business Saturday, I visited more than a dozen small businesses in IL-09 to share some love on the snowiest November day in Chicago history. I spoke with owners and customers about what’s on their mind, including destructive tariffs, ICE, and the general chaos of the Trump administration.

I strongly condemn the settlement between Northwestern University and the Trump Administration: right now we need leaders who will unapologetically protect our people!

BIKE UPDATE! I biked the ENTIRE LENGTH of Illinois’ 9th Congressional District from Uptown shoreline at Lake Michigan to the Cary Metra stop! www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoUw...

MAJOR update: I'm honored to have the support of the 5,000+ members of @ccctu1600.bsky.social. Part of my own education came at a community college here in the 9th District, and I can’t wait to be a strong voice for college affordability and education workers in Congress!

Immigrants made me the person, fighter, and state senator I am today: I have everything invested in making sure all of our neighbors can build a life here, just like my family did.

Senator Lakesia Collins is a proven champion of working people: I am so proud to have her support in this race and I look forward to fighting for our most vulnerable neighbors in Congress, just like we have together in Springfield.

Thanks again to @joyannreid.bsky.social for having me on her show to discuss why I’m running for Congress to represent the Illinois 9th Congressional District: I will fight for housing and healthcare for all and the complete dismantling of ICE.

Launched our first volunteer canvass from our brand new office! Thank you to Neal and all our volunteers who made tonight’s canvass so special - sign up to canvass with us next time by visiting mikesimmons.org, or swing by 1441 W Morse Ave!

BIG UPDATE: The campaign office is open! Thanks to everyone who stopped by this weekend, made the space yours by decorating and donating, and officially kicked off this next stage of the campaign.

Last Sat on Devon Ave, we heard from the people about what matters most: tariffs disrupting their businesses, ICE raids scaring their families, and the difficulties of day-to-day life right now. These places are the lifeblood of a community like Devon: I will be a champion for them in Congress.

Congress MUST abolish ICE. After the chaos and trauma caused by these masked thugs in our neighborhood—a WGN reporter slammed to the ground, a daycare worker kidnapped out of her classroom, and countless other examples of violent acts of terror—there is no room for incremental reform.

Bitterly disappointed in the Democrats who sold us out and folded on healthcare in a backroom deal. People will lose health insurance and premiums will skyrocket. More people will end up in the ER. I can’t stand the complacency and weak leadership in our party that refuses to FIGHT for the people.

Democrats around the country are tired of cuts and capitulation: today’s deal framework is a failure and a betrayal of the millions of Americans who will lose healthcare as a result.

Thank you @mikesimmonsil.bsky.social for calling to abolish ICE.

Here at the Illinois State Capitol where we adjourned a few hours ago at 4:30am after passing a monumental bill that FULLY FUNDS TRANSIT to the tune of $1.5 Billion, civil rights bills to counter ICE at our schools, courthouses, and hospitals, and my bill that bans 11 junk fees on renters, and more!

On Today’s Federal Indictments of Broadview Protestors and Political Candidates:

MAJOR CAMPAIGN UPDATE: So proud to submit 4000 plus petition signatures to be on the ballot as a candidate for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District! Thank you to our scrappy volunteers who organized for months to reach this milestone and thank you to every single person who signed our petition!

Thank you @joyannreid.bsky.social for having me on your show to talk about fighting back against ICE, the current political moment, and my campaign for Congress! Check out the full appearance on YouTube at MikeSimmonsForCongress!

This weekend, I joined 100s of 1000s of Chicagoans angry about kidnappings by masked ICE thugs, our neighbors and families living in fear, and Donald Trump’s fascist regime. I’m fighting every day until ICE, Border Patrol, and the National Guard are off our streets. Abolish ICE. Hands off Chicago.

So proud of my neighbors in Rogers Park for staying in these streets! We must relentlessly agitate and fight back against fascist occupation. Get your hands off Chicago!

About to hop on the Amtrak train back to Chicago from Springfield. Demanding answers regarding unchecked ICE raids, state troopers’ presence at Broadview, and collaborating with advocates to shape legislation to counter ICE. Also leading legislation that protects renters by banning junk fees.

I was out this morning (Tues., 10/14) in West Rogers Park watching for ICE and helping our kiddos and parents get safely to school before heading to get the Amtrak to Springfield for veto session. Inspired to see many people in the community at intersections and on bikes all around our schools.

Outraged that ICE violently detained a landscaper and a WGN producer this morning at the corner of Foster and Lincoln. This is the corner where I grew up. It’s a multi-ethnic working class community that is home, and that represents the best of America, and none of our neighbors deserve this.

NEW ENDORSEMENT! I’m thrilled to be endorsed by American Ethiopian PAC! I’m fighting to become the first Ethiopian-American in Congress. Representation is powerful: I’ll champion our diverse and beautiful immigrant communities all over the 9th District just like the ones who raised and shaped me. 📣📣

I’m at Sullivan High School with Ald. Maria Hadden and community volunteers who are helping our students and family with safe passage. ICE has been in Rogers Park today and has detained neighbors. Please know your rights and report ICE sightings at 855-435-7693. We have to protect each other now.

NEW ENDORSEMENT! Excited to receive the endorsement of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241 and the nearly 10,000 members who keep our buses running across Chicago and its suburbs As a lifelong user of public transit, I will be a strong transit champion in Congress for the 9th District!

The government is shutdown so Republicans can defund Medicaid, but ICE still endangers us all: from smoke grenades near schools, to arresting an Alderperson without cause, to shooting a woman in just the last 3 days. We don’t need masked federal thugs in our city. Hands off Chicago. Abolish ICE.

I’m running to serve with and for the people of IL-09: this is YOUR campaign. With our first fundraising deadline today, we need your help to send the strongest message possible about our people-powered campaign. Chip in at mikesimmons.org and help fuel our fight for authentic representation in DC!

NERD ALERT: I just rode on Ridge Boulevard in Evanston for the first time! YES to bike positive public spaces!

We'll be on WBEZ's In The Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons tomorrow (Monday) at 9am talking E-bike/E-scooter safety with @betterstreetschicago.org and @mikesimmonsil.bsky.social mmonsil.bsky.social. Listen in at www.wbez.org

Proud to be endorsed by @lgbtqvictoryfund.bsky.social in this race and to continue down the path of progress: LGBTQ+ voices belong in the halls of power, and I will use mine to protect all of our rights and freedoms.

Thank you @latimes.com for including me in their coverage of LGBTQIA+ candidates running for office nationwide. Our community remains under attack by Republicans and SCOTUS while being used as a scapegoat by out-of-touch Democrats. We need more LGBTQIA+ representation at every level of government!

It was a beautiful and historic day in Skokie last week when neighbors and activists came together to speak out and heal in light of Donald Trump’s invasion of Chicagoland. Thank you to Indivisible Skokie for the beautiful resistance. Generations from now will be proud of how we are showing up!

These little kiddos saw me getting petition signatures and gave me lemonade and some barbecue then created their own “petition,” which I gladly signed! Definitely the most magical moment from this weekend!

Current mood. We are not playing. Chicago does not break. Chicago is unbreakable. No occupation of us and our people. No ICE raids. No federal troops. Build schools. Invest in community safety and wellness. Stop playing with our lives.