Progress Illinois

In her Sun-Times column today, Laura Washington profiles Aurora Austriaco, a 43-year old community activist and lawyer running to unseat 15-year Republican State Rep. Rosemary Mulligan in Illinois' 65th District, which includes portions of Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Niles, Rosemont, and Chicago's Northwest Side. One of eight children to emigrate from the Philippines, Austriaco would become the first Asian-American to be elected to the Illinois General Assembly, an opportunity rooted in her intrepid work ethic:

Austriaco arrived on the city's Northwest Side at the age of 18. Her reassembled family of 10 was scrunched into a three-bedroom, second-floor walkup. She worked days, went to school at night. "I tell you, Laura, I don't know how we survived."

Then came bachelor's and law degrees from DePaul University. Then a practice in real estate law at Peck, Bloom, Austriaco and Koenig. She is short on naivete and hubris and long on smarts and insight.

"She cares deeply about the issues in our community, and yet she is no fool," said Cook County Circuit Court Judge Sandra Otaka, an early political mentor.

While her district has been solidly Republican for years, demographics and political affiliations in the collar counties -- along with an Obama bump and key endorsements from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Secretary of State Jesse White, and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky -- means Austriaco has a shot.

Even in a hapless year for Republicans, defeating a respected moderate legislator like Mulligan is not a cinch. Still, look for a clue in the Feb. 5 Democratic and Republican primaries, where she and Mulligan each ran unopposed.

Austriaco won 10,641 votes in the Democratic contest, compared with Mulligan's 5,358. On election night, Mulligan shrugged it off by telling the Journal, a local community newspaper, that 2008 was "a very unusual year." Many Republicans, she speculated, took Democratic ballots to weigh in on the epic battle between Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton.

So Austriaco is hoofing away in her nurse's shoes, targeting the district's 25 to 30 precincts that trend independent and moderate Republican. She is pushing many of the standard Democratic causes, like education, health care and advocacy for the elderly.

Read the rest of the profile here and check out Austriaco's campaign website here.