Sara Feigenholtz

Sara Feigenholtz
Member of the Illinois Senate
from the 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 21, 2020
Preceded byJohn Cullerton
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives
from the 12th district
In office
January 11, 1995 – January 21, 2020
Preceded byEllis B. Levin
Succeeded byYoni Pizer
Personal details
Born (1956-12-11) December 11, 1956
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationNortheastern Illinois University (BA)
University of Illinois, Chicago (MPH)

Sara Feigenholtz (born December 11, 1956) is a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate who has represented the 6th district since 2020.[1] The district includes the lakefront Chicago neighborhoods of Lake View, Lincoln Park, and the Near North Side. From 1995 to 2020, she was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives representing the 12th district.[2]

Background

Sara Feigenholtz's political interests and activity, notably in the areas of adoption, women's issues and health care, reflect her personal experience and family background. Her adoptive mother, Florence Buky, an immigrant from Białystok, Poland, worked her way through medical school to become an obstetrician. Many of Dr. Buky's patients were unable to care for their children and this was how she came to adopt Sara and her brother.[3] Feigenholz attributes the origin of her political commitment to health care as a basic right to the childhood experience of patients calling to see Dr. Buky at the family home in Lake View, Chicago, and her mother never turning anyone away, even those unable to pay.[3]

Feigenholtz earned her bachelor's degree in political science and speech and performing arts from Northeastern Illinois University[1] and went on to earn a fellowship degree from the University of Illinois School Of Public Health. In 2011, she completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at Harvard Kennedy School.

She worked as Chief of Staff to State Representative John Cullerton before becoming a fund-raiser for progressive causes.[3]

Illinois House of Representatives

Feigenholtz was elected to her first term as state representative of Illinois’ 12th District in 1994, defeating long-standing incumbent Ellis B. Levin.[4] She chose to focus her attention on health care and human services reform. She was a lead sponsor of the Family Health Care Bill. She also campaigned for the introduction of the All Kids program.[3]

In 2010, she sponsored the Original Birth Certificate Access Bill, allowing for the release of the original birth certificate to an adopted person upon written request, provided he or she is over the age of 21.

As part of the Affordable Care Act implementation, Feigenholtz sponsored the 2013 expansion of Medicaid in Illinois. This legislation extended coverage to thousands of Illinoisans who were shut out of the health care system before.

In 2017, Feigenholtz sponsored House Bill 40 in the 100th General Assembly, kept abortion legal in Illinois despite Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States. It also extends insurance coverage of abortion to state employees and women insured through Medicaid.[5]

Sara Feigenholtz served as Assistant Majority Leader from 2013 through 2019. She currently chairs the Adoption & Child Welfare Committee, and most recently served on the Appropriations-Human Services, Tourism, Hospitality and Craft, Mental Health, Environment, and Energy Committees.[6]

In 2018, Democrat J. B. Pritzker appointed Feigenholtz a member of the gubernatorial transition's Healthy Children and Families Committee.[7]

Special congressional election

Feigenholtz came in third place to Mike Quigley in Illinois's 5th congressional district special election, 2009 to fill the district seat vacated by Rahm Emanuel, who resigned to serve as President Barack Obama's Chief of Staff.

Illinois Senate

Feigenholtz assumed the office of State Senator for Illinois' 6th District on January 21, 2020.

Feigenholtz was a guest of U.S. Representative Mike Quigley at Joe Biden's 2023 State of the Union Address.[8]

Committees

In the 102nd General Assembly, Feigenholtz was the Chair of the Appropriations - Human Services Committee; the Tourism and Hospitality Committee; and the Redistricting - Chicago North Committee. She also served on the Senate Appropriations - Business Regulations and Labor Committee; Behavioral and Mental Health Committee; Health Committee; Insurance Committee; Licensed Activities Committee; Pensions Committee; Subcommittee on Children & Family; and the Subcommittee on Medicaid.[9]

In the 103rd General Assembly, she is the Chair of the Financial Institutions Committee. She also serves on the Appropriations Committee; Appropriations - Health and Human Services Committee; Behavioral and Mental Health Committee; Licensed Activities Committee; and Revenue Committee.[9]

Other

In 2001 Feigenholtz was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame as a Friend of the Community.[10]

Controversy

Feigenholtz has been involved in controversies related to social media posts concerning religious groups. In July 2022, Feigenholtz posted an image on Facebook showing a figure resembling a Catholic cleric pointing a gun at a pregnant Statue of Liberty, following the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The Archdiocese of Chicago criticized the post as "bigoted imagery" and called for a "more fulsome explanation and apology." Feigenholtz removed the post and apologized, stating she "meant no ill will toward anyone who found it offensive."[11][12]

In late October 2024, Feigenholtz posted on X (formerly Twitter) in response to a comment about Islam, writing that those who praise the religion should "move to an Islamic country and stick their heads in the dirt multiple times a day for enlightenment."[13] In November 2024, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and other groups called for her resignation.[14] High school teacher Fuzia Jarad additionally alleged that Feigenholtz made anti-Muslim comments during a personal conversation, which Feigenholtz denied as "false and without merit."[15] CAIR requested that Senate President Don Harmon remove Feigenholtz from committee leadership positions.[16][17]

Electoral history

Illinois 12th State House District General Election, 1994[18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Feigenholtz 16,467 73.96
Republican William J. Enright 5,797 26.04
Total votes 22,264 100.0
Illinois 12th State House District General Election, 1996[19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Feigenholtz (incumbent) 27,659 76.97
Republican Beret A. Olson 8,275 23.03
Total votes 35,934 100.0
Illinois 12th State House District General Election, 1998[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Feigenholtz (incumbent) 19,978 100.0
Total votes 19,978 100.0
Illinois 12th State House District General Election, 2000[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Feigenholtz (incumbent) 31,706 74.82
Republican Robert Huntington 10,670 25.18
Total votes 42,376 100.0
Illinois 12th State House District General Election, 2002[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Feigenholtz (incumbent) 22,448 74.23
Republican Michael G. Weiler 7,793 25.77
Total votes 30,241 100.0
Illinois 12th State House District General Election, 2004[23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Feigenholtz (incumbent) 36,671 75.63
Republican Marie-Elana Leone 11,814 24.37
Total votes 48,485 100.0
Illinois 12th State House District General Election, 2006[24]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Feigenholtz (incumbent) 23,749 81.13
Republican Richard A. Caner 5,524 18.87
Total votes 29,273 100.0
Illinois 12th State House District General Election, 2008[25]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Feigenholtz (incumbent) 38,502 84.43
Green Tim Quirk 7,100 15.57
Total votes 45,602 100.0
Illinois 5th Congressional District Democratic Special Primary, 2009
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mike Quigley 12,118 22.37
Democratic John A. Fritchey 9,835 17.89
Democratic Sara Feigenholtz 9,194 16.72
Democratic Victor A. Forys 6,428 11.69
Democratic Patrick J. O'Connor 6,388 11.62
Democratic Charles J. Wheelan 3,681 6.69
Democratic Tom Geoghegan 3,342 6.08
Democratic Paul J. Bryar 1,111 2.02
Democratic Jan H. Donatelli 892 1.62
Democratic Frank Annunzio 755 1.37
Democratic Cary Capparelli 714 1.30
Democratic Carlos A. Monteagudo 521 0.95
Democratic Roger A. Thompson III 10 0.02
Total votes 54,989 100.0
Illinois 12th State House District General Election, 2010[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Feigenholtz (incumbent) 22,272 68.95
Republican Dave Lenkowski 10,031 31.05
Total votes 32,303 100.0
Illinois 12th State House District General Election, 2012[27]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Feigenholtz (incumbent) 40,397 99.96
Write-in votes Frank Rowder 17 0.04
Total votes 40,414 100.0
Illinois 12th State House District General Election, 2014[28]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Feigenholtz (incumbent) 25,512 100.0
Total votes 25,512 100.0
Illinois 12th State House District General Election, 2016[29]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Feigenholtz (incumbent) 43,858 75.59
Republican Gene Witt 14,161 24.41
Total votes 58,019 100.0
Illinois 12th State House District General Election, 2018[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Feigenholtz (incumbent) 46,346 100.0
Total votes 46,346 100.0

References

  1. ^ a b Representative Sara Feigenholtz page, Illinois General Assembly website, accessed 12 April 2011
  2. ^ "Illinois General Assembly - Senator Biography". www.ilga.gov. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  3. ^ a b c d Sara Feigenholtz website, Biography page, accessed 12 April 2011
  4. ^ COSDem (September 2, 2009). "Levin, Ellis B." Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  5. ^ NBC Chicago (September 27, 2018). "Illinois Abortion Law Anniversary Falls on Day of Kavanaugh Vote". NBC Chicago. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  6. ^ Illinois General Assembly (November 13, 2018). "Representative Sara Feigenholtz (D), 12th District Committees". State of Illinois. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  7. ^ Miller, Rich (November 15, 2018). "Pritzker announces new health-related transition committee". Capitol Fax. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  8. ^ "Who's going to the State of the Union? Illinois lawmakers reveal their guests". Shaw Local. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  9. ^ a b "Illinois General Assembly - Senator Committees". ilga.gov. Retrieved 2022-07-04.
  10. ^ "Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame". www.glhalloffame.org. Archived from the original on 2015-10-17. Retrieved 2016-08-01.
  11. ^ "Archdiocese of Chicago criticizes North Side state senator over Roe v. Wade post". Chicago Sun-Times. 2022-07-02. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  12. ^ Tribune, The Editorial Board | Chicago (2022-10-24). "Editorial: For Illinois Senate: Sara Feigenholtz, Laura Fine, Mike Porfirio, Bill Cunningham and Patrick Sheehan". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  13. ^ "Illinois state senator asked to resign after 'Islamophobic' social media posts". FOX 32 Chicago. 2024-11-01. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  14. ^ Sarracino, Jacob (2024-11-04). "Chicago Muslim civil rights group calls for state senator's resignation over social media posts - CBS Chicago". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  15. ^ Schutz, Paris (2024-11-20). "'A danger to the people of Illinois': Calls mount for lawmaker to step down over alleged racist comments". FOX 32 Chicago. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  16. ^ "Muslim leaders call for resignation of state Sen. Sara Feigenholtz after anti-Muslim social media posts". Chicago Sun-Times. November 2024.
  17. ^ "Muslim civil rights group leads call for state Sen. Sara Feigenholtz to resign over social media post". Chicago Tribune. 2024-11-01. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  18. ^ Illinois blue book, 1995-1996. Office of Illinois Secretary of State. 1996. p. 410. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  19. ^ Illinois blue book, 1997-1998. Office of Illinois Secretary of State. 1998. p. 412. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  20. ^ "Election Results 1998 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  21. ^ "Election Results 2000 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  22. ^ "Election Results 2002 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  23. ^ "Election Results 2004 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  24. ^ "Election Results 2006 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  25. ^ "Election Results 2008 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  26. ^ "Election Results 2010 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  27. ^ "Election Results 2012 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  28. ^ "Election Results 2014 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  29. ^ "Election Results 2016 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  30. ^ "Election Results 2018 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
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