As you probably know, math professors don’t usually up and run for office. And yet, starting in the spring of 2007, I – an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago, someone who as a teenager dreamt of nothing more than teaching math for a living – embarked on a campaign for State Representative in Illinois’ 17th District, a journey that would ultimately lead me to effectively end my academic career by not seeking tenure.
So, what happened? In short, I saw the world falling apart around me. America was becoming a place unlike the one I’d learned about in school. All of a sudden, we were facing terrible problems and suffering through worse decisions -- decisions that tolerated and even encouraged torture, economic inequality, and an environmental crisis that threatened the planet.
Watching these developments awoke in me a patriotism that I hadn’t noticed before. It made me angry that America – my America – was being defiled in this way. And for a few years early in the Bush administration, I was despondent that so few seemed to care.
So when I noticed concern about the direction of our country finally growing, it came as an invigorating jolt. A new progressive movement began to blossom, fueled at first by the same outrage I felt, and soon channeled into a powerful new policy agenda and political force. I saw this movement of new political actors as the great hope for America’s future, and I felt called to participate in it in any way I could, initially as a volunteer and organizer, and eventually as a candidate for public office.
