David Schroeder is someone with a passion for solving problems, and getting results.

Everybody knows we’ve got our fair share of problems here in Illinois: whether it’s the growing number of Illinois residents without jobs and health care, the resultant challenges of crime and public safety, the desperate plight of Chicago schools, or the outright corruption that has plagued our state government. David Schroeder is dedicated to solving them and putting our state and our communities back on the right path.

And that’s exactly what we need in Springfield right now.

David Schroeder has an outstanding record of community involvement and political activism. As a former educator, small business owner, and attorney, David has worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for his fellow citizens.

As the next representative for the 5th District, David Schroeder will continue to fight on behalf of the middle class for more jobs and economic opportunity, safer neighborhoods, and a fairer tax system that doesn’t place so much of the burden on working families and senior citizens.

After all, it’s what he’s been doing for years.

David Schroeder learned the value of hard work early on, paying his own way through college and law school by painting houses. He graduated with highest honors from North Central College as a double major in Political Science and Spanish. While there, he served as President of the student association for two terms, and received both the Outstanding Political Science Graduate and Outstanding Senior Man awards. As the president of the student government at North Central, Dave led the fight against the mayor of Naperville over the police department’s unconstitutional practice of harassing African-American students attending college there.

Later, Dave helped found the Schroeder-Heyer scholarship fund at North Central College, and has been a member of North Central’s President’s Club for over twenty years.

A strong believer in the goals of peace and global security, better living standards and human rights – here at home and abroad – David helped found North Central’s Model United Nations program. He also served as news editor of the NC Chronicle. In addition, David was a recipient of a Richter Fellowship to research the status of democracy in Spain after the death of Francisco Franco.

Upon graduation, David Schroeder went on to the University of Chicago School of Law where he again distinguished himself academically. During that time, David volunteered for the campaign that succeeded in electing Harold Washington as mayor of Chicago.

David Schroeder has sought political reform for years. His experiences working on Harold Washington’s campaign led him to become a lifelong political activist. Dave worked hard on the Aldermanic campaign that ultimately ended the battles between Mayor Washington and the City Council. Dave helped to elect the first openly gay member of the Illinois General Assembly as well as the first African-American woman elected to the United States Senate. Dave was a supporter and volunteer for both Barack Obama’s senate and presidential campaigns.

For eight years, Dave was a visiting lecturer at DePaul University. While there, he taught ethics courses including “Medical and Scientific Developments: Hard Choices,” which examined how the law and religion address cutting-edge and controversial technologies like genetic engineering and cloning. Dave is the only candidate to have actual classroom experience.

David Schroeder has practiced law for over twenty years, representing people who needed justice in our courts. For five of those years, Dave was partner in his own law firm. As a small business owner he helped to create jobs for Illinois workers. Dave is presently an attorney with the firm of Tribler, Orpett & Meyer, where he is engaged in a general litigation practice. Dave is a tireless advocate for the people of Illinois: he regularly does pro bono work, giving free legal services to those unable to afford their own lawyer through Chicago Volunteer Legal Services and the Illinois Appellate Defender’s Office.

Dave is very active in his community. Dave is a member and/or supporter of the Chicago Anti-Cruelty Society, Planned Parenthood, the Point Foundation, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, BeHIV, Test Positive Aware Network, Chicago House, the Gerber Hart Library, Howard Brown Memorial Clinic, the Field Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Shedd Aquarium, the Adler Planetarium, the Notebaert Nature Museum, and the Chicago Historical Society. He has served on several condominium association boards, is a former president of a historical preservation society, and is the chairman of Lakeside Pride, Chicago’s largest community band.

Dave has been with his partner for 14 years. He will be the fourth openly gay legislator to serve in the Illinois General Assembly.

David Schroeder is running for office in order to be a voice for the working and middle class families of the 5th District. He knows that we need to make the tax code fairer and to cut corporate loopholes in order to give working families and seniors a break and get our economy back on track. Dave believes that investing in job creation, health care, public safety, and education should be the top priorities for every elected representative.

Everyone deserves an opportunity to earn a living for themselves and their families. Putting people to work is a way of investing in communities: it gives people a stake in their neighborhood, a reason to want to keep their streets clean and safe for their children. That’s why Dave feels that that job creation must be our top priority. As the next representative for the 5th District, Dave will work to help regular people make ends meet and create good jobs for everyone.

Public safety is major concern for Dave. People want to live in the 5th District only if they can feel confident that they are safe from violent crime and in particular that the most vulnerable members of our communities – our children and our grandparents – are not victims of gang activities. Dave’s passion is again reflected in his work. In a landmark case, Dave represented the mother of a teenager shot in the back and killed in the former Cabrini Green housing projects for being identified mistakenly as a gang member. Dave has also represented tenants who have been displaced from their homes or places of business when their buildings became dangerous due to neglect by their landlords. He is the lead plaintiffs’ attorney for the people who became stricken with salmonella at the Taste of Chicago in 2007.

In order to bring about lasting change in Illinois, we need serious political reform. Dave knows that ending corruption and pay-to-play politics in this state is going to be hard work, but that it is long overdue. He has been an early and outspoken supporter overhauling government in order to make it more transparent and more accountable to the voters of Illinois.

David Schroeder will be a force for change in Springfield, and a leader who puts people first.