Progressive?

Jan Schakowsky was the first local candidate in recent times to identify as a “Progressive.”

She was running in the Democratic Primary for State Representative in 1990 in a district that included Evanston and parts of Rogers Park and Wilmette. 

She used several political labels and got the best response for “Progressive,” which had been used by liberals in 1948 and in the early 20th century by Republicans who fought big business and railroads and who championed women’s suffrage and fair prices for farmers. Theodore Roosevelt ran on the Progressive ticket for President in 1912 as did Robert LaFollette in 1924.

Schakowsky’s timing was good. The label “Liberal” had developed a negative connotation. Opponents used epithets like “Kneejerk Liberal” or “Tax-and-spend Liberal.” The label “Progressive” suggested a more thoughtful ideology (that’s no longer the case).

And “Independent’ was less relevant in suburban communities than in Chicago neighborhoods.