PAVE Candidate Forum IL-District 3
On February 3, the Pan-Asian Voter Empowerment (PAVE) Coalition held a candidate forum for the U.S. House Illinois 9th Congressional District. A crew of three from AFIRE attended the event - held in Skokie, IL - as a coalition member. Josephine Mallari, AFIRE Volunteer, shared their experience with Marilou Mariko Carrera (AFIRE, Development & Communications).
MMC: What was the event like for you?
JM: I enjoyed attending that. It’s important, as of lately, since COVID, being more educated and informed of what’s happening in politics, and paying more attention to how local politics impacts me and my loved ones. I’ve always found it hard to get that first hand experience of hearing candidates speak. PAVE was a perfect opportunity, especially the 9th District, which is so large. I live in Jefferson Park, so it was good to hear everyone. That was my first time hearing candidates speak and answer questions live on the spot. I work in PR [public relations]. I know that people, whether candidates or brands, don’t walk into a conversation blind; so my mind was always moving and analyzing what was PR speech and what was a genuine answer.
MMC: How did you learn about the forum?
JM: The only reason I found out about it is because Kaya forwarded it to the volunteer email group, otherwise I wouldn’t have known.
MMC: Who do you think was mostly in the audience?
JM: I was sitting in the back to hang back, taking notes on my phone; the room was full (the portion that was set aside for the forum). There were different organizations and cultural groups. Different Asian cultural groups for sure: Fil-am, Korean, Vietnamese, Pakistani, etc. There were questions from different groups.
MMC: Was there anything that surprised you or stood out for you?
JM: I was surprised there wasn’t an opportunity to do open Q&A with folks there, live. The questions submitted and approved were specific to a specific group, not applicable to the whole. The professional side of me wasn’t surprised. But otherwise I was disheartened because you’re not telling me anything different from what’s on your website or in an interview already. It could’ve been fruitful to hear someone speaking from a place that’s consistent with what they’ve said before.
Hearing the candidates speak helped illuminate a clear choice for Josephine.
JM: [A specific candidate’s] responses were always backed by an insight, an experience, a fact. She did those most consistently of all of the candidates, which resonated with me. [Another candidate] used the same rhetoric without anything to back it up; that didn’t put them in a good light for me. One candidate was an economist. I’m so glad you know budgets and numbers, but people are more than numbers. [As far as the] former FBI agent - glad you have tenacity, but it’s only going to get you so far.
MMC: Was there anything the candidates spoke to, issues or policies they were proposing, that stood out for you?
JM: Immigration policy and change; protecting and strengthening Medicare/Medicaid; questions about multiple languages; policies against anti-Asian sentiment.
MMC: Would you find it interesting to participate in more things that connect your personal story to things like legislative policy? One example would be diving deep in reviewing a policy platform and connecting it to your personal story.
JM: I think that would be interesting. There’s not a lot of opportunities to connect deeply.
The candidate forum is one example of civic engagement opportunities available for public participation. If you are interested in another option, please join AFIRE to lobby state legislators with the PAVE Coalition at Asian American Action Day in Springfield, IL this Spring on May 6, 2026.
