Why I’m Running -

Because I’m tired of waking up in an America that has enough money to help normal folks but with leaders that refuse to do so. At this point Americans are indebted to their employers in way that has not been seen since indentured servitude was abolished.

If you lose your job you shouldn’t lose everything. It may take weeks to apply for unemployment benefits, which won’t even cover the cost of a full month’s rent. Without an income families have to choose which bills not to pay and which necessities to do without. That’s profoundly immoral in a society that creates as much money as ours does. But it is that way because it serves the interests of the corporate elite and in this system the only winners are those corporations.

And what do companies do with that money? Buy government influence with it so they can make even more money; corporations do not care if their greed leads to destitution or desolation for tens of millions of Americans. It’s not right.

It’s Time for a Change.

Everyone agrees that corporations are not people and that losing your job should not mean losing your dignity but due to our ineffective leadership that is the system we have. It doesn’t have to be this way.

I want to fight for you, I want to do what needs to be done in Washington to fight the corporate corruption that is preventing us from having the America we need and deserve. I want to be your progressive bulldog in Congress.

Candidate Bio:

Christ Kallas is a lifelong Illinoisan, first-generation college graduate, and staunch progressive who knows that it is time for a change. He is committed to protecting those who have the least from those who would do them harm.

Christ grew up in Amboy, Illinois, a town of 2,500 nestled in the rural North of the state. He spent his youth working on family farms, detasseling corn in the summers, and dishwashing, stocking, and cashier shifts at a nearby camping resort. His early life taught him the value of labor, dignity, and community.

He is the son of a first-generation Greek father and a hardworking American mother. After losing his father at age five, Christ was raised by his mother who worked as a caretaker for those with mental and developmental disabilities, retirement homes, fast food restaurants, and later pursued a degree in criminal justice before retiring. She is the reason Christ lives and leads with empathy and respect, especially for those working to raise a family with limited resources..

Christ attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he earned his undergraduate degree in political science. He was a local volunteer for the Obama 2008 campaign, picketed for UNITE Local 1, and later after graduating into the Great Recession he packed batteries in a factory near Dixon, IL before serving as a field organizer for Rep. Bill Foster’s 2012 re-election. Afterwards he pursued marketing and office work, gaining experience across nonprofits, chambers of commerce, and small startups. He was able to start building a middle-class life in Elk Grove Village but in 2016, with the first election of Donald Trump, he knew he had to get active in politics again. Across the first Trump presidency he attended protests against the injustices inflicted on the entire nation generally, but marginalized populations specifically.

Christ lives in Schaumburg, on the border of Roselle, with his beautiful, wonderful, talented wife, a lifelong resident of the 8th District. He has been an active member of the IL-08 community for over a decade, volunteering for causes like Feed My Starving Children and marching on picket lines with UNITE HERE Local 1, demanding safe working conditions for hotel workers. He also lives with a degenerative disc condition, giving him firsthand understanding of the challenges faced by working-class people with disabilities.

At age 37, Christ knew he could no longer watch the federal government continue to ignore the needs of his friends, family, and neighbors. That’s why he’s running for Congress — to be a progressive bulldog in Washington, fighting for the people of IL-08 every single day in every single way.