Deb Mell

Deborah L. Mell
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 40th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 14, 2009
Preceded by	Rich Bradley (D)
Personal details
Born	July 30, 1968 (1968-07-30) (age 43) Chicago, Illinois
Political party	Democratic
Domestic partner	Christin Baker
Residence	Chicago, Illinois
Alma mater	Cornell College
Website	ilga.gov/house/Rep.asp?MemberID=1537

Deborah L. "Deb" Mell is an American politician from Chicago. She is a Democrat and a member of the Illinois House of Representatives representing the 40th district, elected in 2008 and taking office on January 14, 2009.

Early life, education and career

Mell is the daughter of long-time Alderman Richard Mell. Her sister Patti is married to former Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Mell attracted considerable media attention when she was arrested in 2004 while protesting her inability to get a same-sex marriage license from the Cook County clerk's office.^[1]

Mell was educated in Chicago, at St John Berchman’s Elementary School and St Scholastica High School. She then attended Cornell College with a dual major in political science and history, before earning a culinary arts degree from California Culinary Academy.

Mell returned to Chicago in 2000 and began working at Christy Webber Landscape, Chicago’s largest landscaping company owned by prominent lesbian Christy Webber.^[2][3]

In politics

The 40th district, located on Chicago's northwest side, was represented by Rep. Rich Bradley prior to 2008. Bradley decided not to seek re-election in 2008 after Mell announced that she was running, choosing instead to challenge Sen. Iris Martinez for a seat in the Illinois Senate. Mell's campaign had the support of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.^[4] She won 75% of the vote in the general election of November 4, 2008; her opponents, Republican Christine Nere-Foss and Green Party candidate Heather Benno,^[5] garnered 15% and 10% respectively.

On January 14, 2009, in one of her first votes in the Illinois House of Representatives, Mell cast the lone vote opposed to impeaching her brother-in-law, then-Governor Rod Blagojevich.^[6] This was the second time the House had voted to impeach Blagojevich, and the tally was 117–1.

In November 2008, Mell expressed interest in running in the special election to replace Rahm Emanuel, who would be resigning from the U.S. House of Representatives to serve as President Obama's White House Chief of Staff.^[7] Several weeks later, she withdrew from the race.^[8]

Personal

Mell is openly lesbian. Her partner is Christin Baker.^[9] She and Baker have announced their plans to marry in Iowa sometime in the fall of 2011.^[10] She is one of three openly LGBT members of the Illinois General Assembly, along with Reps. Greg Harris and Kelly Cassidy, both Democrats from Chicago.

Mell serves on Mayor Richard M. Daley's Advisory Council for Human Relations and is active in Equality Illinois. She has received a National Organization for Women award for her activism, as well as the Howard Brown Cornerstone Award for community excellence.^[2]

References

1. ^ "Gays rip denial of marriage licenses" (– ^{Scholar search}), Chicago Sun-Times, 2004-03-05, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20040305/ai_n12536715, retrieved 2007-11-16 ^{[dead link][dead link]}
2. ^ ^{a b} "About Deb", Citizens for Deb Mell, http://www.debmell.org/about-deb.html, retrieved 2008-10-05 
3. ^ "Deb Mell: Breaking New Ground", Windy City Times, 2008-10-29, http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=19683, retrieved 2009-01-31 
4. ^ "Deborah Mell", Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, http://www.victoryfund.org/endorsed_candidates/profile/candidate:112, retrieved 2008-01-02 
5. ^ "For the Illinois House", Chicago Tribune, 2008-10-25, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-1025edit1oct25,0,2682341.story, retrieved 2009-01-31 
6. ^ "House votes to impeach Blagojevich again". Chicago Tribune (Tribune Company). 2009-01-14. http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/01/blagojevich-ove.html. Retrieved 2009-01-14. 
7. ^ "Emanuel departure starts race for vacant seat", The Hill, http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/emanuel-seat-mell-in-quigley-likely-to-run-2008-11-06.html, retrieved 2008-11-06 
8. ^ Belluck, Pam (2008-12-11), "Illinois First Lady Faces Scrutiny", The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/11/us/politics/11wife.html?hp, retrieved 2008-12-11 
9. ^ "Mell Runs for Rep", Windy City Times, 2007-06-27, http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=15324, retrieved 2007-11-16 
10. ^ "Iowa’s nice, but Mell wants to marry partner in Illinois", Chicago Tribune, 2010-04-27, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-talk-deborah-mell-0428-20100427,0,5777395.story, retrieved 2010-04-28 

External links

• Representative Deborah Mell (D) 40th District official IL House website
  • Bills Committees
• Rep. Deborah Mell at Illinois House Democrats

• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Current Bills Sponsored at StateSurge.com
• Campaign contributions at the National Institute for Money in State Politics

Persondata
Name	Mell, Deb
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1968-07-30
Place of birth	Chicago, Illinois
Date of death
Place of death