We only have 10 weeks left before we go to the polls for the primary on June 28th!  We need your support to cross the finish line victoriously.  It takes funds to fuel our campaign.  Your contribution will help us connect with voters and promote this pivotal movement that our nation so desperately needs. It's time to put families at the center of our legislation. It's time to stop the division that is holding up our resources and stagnating our communities.  It's time for the right representation in congress.      

HERE’S WHERE I COME FROM:

I was born into a working class family in Chicago. My dad was an Air Force veteran, a postal worker, and an active church volunteer. My mom worked hard everyday caring for five children, teaching Sunday School and leading the children’s choir at church, all while working 9 to 5 clerical jobs outside the home. I was only in 6th grade when I received my first experience as a Community Organizer while fighting for my own education as an elementary student. The faith and hard work I learned from my parents and the commitment to justice I learned from my organizing have guided my life.

HERE’S WHAT I’VE DONE:

I was the first in his family to attend college and the only one to be ordained into the ministry. I’ve spent my young life fighting to empower families and communities.  I registered and mobilized young voters as the Youth and Young Adult Coordinator on Barack Obama’s 2004 Campaign for U.S. Senate and organized churches to combat community violence through the Chicago Peace Campaign. As Deputy Campaign Manager at A+ Illinois, I helped organize a statewide coalition to transform school funding that included both major teachers unions, AFSCME, the Illinois Farm Bureau, the Chicago Chamber of Commerce and the Urban League.  Advocacy Director at New Schools for Chicago, I helped expand the number of high quality school options available for families in underserved communities like the one where I grew up. And I organized Parent Power Chicago, a group of parent advocates, local entrepreneurs, service providers, and leading philanthropists dedicated to empowering parents to lead their children to success.

In 2013, I started a boutique public affairs consulting firm with my brother that specialized in forging unlikely partnerships and leading tough conversations.  And in the midst of a tumultuous Trump administration, I helped launch a movement called the AND Campaign to clarify the role of the church in fighting for justice, equity, and order.

HERE’S WHERE WE’RE GOING:

Our country is right now, divided more deeply than at any time since the Civil War. Two major factors are driving this division. The first factor is economic inequality. The nation has rapidly increasing gaps in income, overall wealth, educational opportunity, and access to affordable housing and quality healthcare. The second factor is an all-consuming culture war.

Growing up in the church, I know that people of faith take their values and convictions seriously. And having gotten involved in social justice work at just 12 years old, I learned pretty early in life that there are a lot of great people who while they don’t look at the world through the lens of the church, they have righteous values and deep convictions. That’s why I know that we have a window of opportunity to do some big things: 

  • Revamp our economy with strong unions, fair wages, universal college, a guaranteed basic income, and a regulatory climate that works for small businesses, not just large corporations.

  • Assess the damage that Covid shutdowns have done to our children’s education and develop a plan to put them on track to lead the world, not fall further behind than we were before the pandemic

  • We have to get big money out of politics and make voting easier and smarter for all of us, so that we can restore faith in our democracy before we lose an entire generation of young voters to apathy  

  • Reject the notion that being for policing reform means being against police officers as we build a robust public safety infrastructure that pairs prevention and intervention with strong law enforcement strategies.

I’m running for Congress because I’m ready to help the Democratic Party and our government move beyond the politics of division that currently have us stuck with the status quo. But, it’s going to take your support! We need to make calls, knock doors, send mail, and advertise if we want to reach every voter in the 1st Congressional District. 

Please chip in today!


Show your support for this campaign by endorsing it and sharing why!

  • endorsed

    “Chris Butler is a faith based truth teller and can be trusted in integrity with what he says. He is a deeply committed and compassionate young man who believes strongly in governmental fairness for all people. He has a thought out plan that will work and in his heart cares for the everyday affairs of families and will labor hard to make sure these needs are met. I have known Chris and his family since he was about nine years old and what has been shared that he has accomplished in his youth is the truth. But there is yet more opportunity, after his election, for Chris’s plan of action to develop, grow and create fiscal unity, equity, equality and impartiality for all 1st Congressional District families. Chris Butler is a servant leader that is a decent and honest man seeking to serve, help and motivate the people of this district. I highly endorse him to be elected for Congressman of the 1st District. Let’s move forward together!!!”

  • endorsed

    “I support Chris Butler's campaign because I want quality child care of choice, that will help me get ahead in life.”

  • endorsed

    “I've been Pastor Butler's rallies, and he's a good man with great ideas. Excited to see how he will help Illinois' 1st district when in office.”

  • endorsed

    “Pastor Chris is the man to lead this march towards civility. I’m proud to endorse his candidacy because we don’t have to ask what he’ll do because he is already doing it!”

  • endorsed

    “He's a family man with a plan with a clear vision for change.”

  • endorsed

    “I endorse Chris Butler because he has the integrity, compassion, inclusiveness and intelligence to be an outstanding Congressman. He knows how to listen, empathize, and lead, and he will bring new energy and opportunities to the 1st Congressional District.”

  • endorsed

    “I endorse Pastor Chris Butler because he has a rare compassion to find achievable ground with those who are on the opposite side of important issues. Yet, he carries a courageous conviction that will advance vital change in the 1st congressional district and beyond.”

  • endorsed

    “I endorse Pastor Chris Butler because he is dedicated to finding solutions without a pride that prevents progress. With a humility I've never before seen in a candidate, he holds his convictions dear and compassionately listens to those who hold different convictions. He's spent so much of his career making difficult decisions that effect people's lives, and as a result he takes others seriously and deeply cares about the people that policy--and political inaction--effects.”

  • endorsed

    “I support this family man because he’s honest, and full of integrity. I have known him since I was in high school and he has never waivered from his faith and who he is. I proudly endorse this candidate.”

September 22, 2021

This is how we win!

We're not gonna win this thing by getting the blessing of the party bosses. We're gonna win by knocking on doors, meeting people on blocks and in back yard in every community in the 1st District.

This movement will run on the strength of an army of grassroots donors and volunteers. Keep sharing and keep giving. Thank you so much for your support!


-Pastor Chris

Back to all updates

Show your support for this campaign by endorsing it and sharing why!

  • endorsed

    “Chris Butler is a faith based truth teller and can be trusted in integrity with what he says. He is a deeply committed and compassionate young man who believes strongly in governmental fairness for all people. He has a thought out plan that will work and in his heart cares for the everyday affairs of families and will labor hard to make sure these needs are met. I have known Chris and his family since he was about nine years old and what has been shared that he has accomplished in his youth is the truth. But there is yet more opportunity, after his election, for Chris’s plan of action to develop, grow and create fiscal unity, equity, equality and impartiality for all 1st Congressional District families. Chris Butler is a servant leader that is a decent and honest man seeking to serve, help and motivate the people of this district. I highly endorse him to be elected for Congressman of the 1st District. Let’s move forward together!!!”

  • endorsed

    “I support Chris Butler's campaign because I want quality child care of choice, that will help me get ahead in life.”

  • endorsed

    “I've been Pastor Butler's rallies, and he's a good man with great ideas. Excited to see how he will help Illinois' 1st district when in office.”

  • endorsed

    “Pastor Chris is the man to lead this march towards civility. I’m proud to endorse his candidacy because we don’t have to ask what he’ll do because he is already doing it!”

  • endorsed

    “He's a family man with a plan with a clear vision for change.”

  • endorsed

    “I endorse Chris Butler because he has the integrity, compassion, inclusiveness and intelligence to be an outstanding Congressman. He knows how to listen, empathize, and lead, and he will bring new energy and opportunities to the 1st Congressional District.”

  • endorsed

    “I endorse Pastor Chris Butler because he has a rare compassion to find achievable ground with those who are on the opposite side of important issues. Yet, he carries a courageous conviction that will advance vital change in the 1st congressional district and beyond.”

  • endorsed

  • endorsed

    “I endorse Pastor Chris Butler because he is dedicated to finding solutions without a pride that prevents progress. With a humility I've never before seen in a candidate, he holds his convictions dear and compassionately listens to those who hold different convictions. He's spent so much of his career making difficult decisions that effect people's lives, and as a result he takes others seriously and deeply cares about the people that policy--and political inaction--effects.”

  • endorsed

    “I support this family man because he’s honest, and full of integrity. I have known him since I was in high school and he has never waivered from his faith and who he is. I proudly endorse this candidate.”