Appointed last year to replace disgraced Link, state Sen. Adriane Johnson to run in 2022
Not yet a year after being appointed to the state Senate, Buffalo Grove Democrat Adriane Johnson has announced she'll run for the 30th District post in 2022.
Johnson, the first Black state senator from Lake County, unveiled her campaign Monday with a series of posts on Facebook.
"I accepted the position to do something and I plan to keep showing up and getting things done," Johnson said in one post.
Johnson joined the Senate in October 2020. She replaced disgraced state Sen. Terry Link of Indian Creek, who resigned days before pleading guilty to filing a false tax return as part of a negotiated deal with federal prosecutors.
When Johnson was appointed, Lake County Democratic Party Chair Lauren Beth Gash indicated Johnson wasn't planning to run in 2022.
Gash and state Rep. Mark Walker of Arlington Heights were responsible for choosing Link's successor, and at the time Gash said many of the people they spoke to about the vacancy "preferred appointing someone not planning to run for the seat (and) then allowing the voters to decide in a primary who should be the Democratic candidate going forward."
But on Tuesday, Johnson said she's become "deeply connected" to the work she's done in the Senate, particularly legislation regarding mental health care and public safety, and to the communities of the 30th District.
"I have carved out a vision for my legislative work, and I am not ready to leave it," Johnson said in a prepared statement. "Members of the community, local elected officials, my colleagues and the Black caucus have been encouraging me to stay. Those conversations affirmed how I've been feeling, and I'm here to stay."
Gash couldn't be reached.
In her Facebook posts about the campaign ahead, Johnson touted endorsements from U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider of Deerfield, Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart and fellow state senators including Laura Murphy of Des Plaines and Julie Morrison of Lake Forest.
In addition to serving in the Senate, Johnson is a member of the Buffalo Grove Park District board, the Illinois Association of Park Districts board, and the Buffalo Grove fire and police commission.
The 30th District currently includes much of central and eastern Lake County and a small portion of Cook County. District boundaries will change ahead of the June 2022 primary election based on the 2020 census's population count.
No Republican candidates have surfaced for the post yet. Party leaders and potential candidates are waiting for legislative boundaries to be finalized, Lake County GOP chair Mark Shaw said.