Deb Mell
OfficeMember of the Chicago City Council from the 33rd ward
Term startJuly 24, 2013
Term endMay 20, 2019
PrecededRichard Mell
SuccessorRossana Rodriguez-Sanchez
State house 1Illinois
District 140th
Term start 1January 14, 2009
Term end 1July 24, 2013
Preceded 1Rich Bradley
Successor 1Jaime Andrade Jr.
Birth dateJuly 30, 1968 (age 58)
Birth placeChicago, Illinois, U.S.
PartyDemocratic
SpouseChristin Baker (m. 2011; div. 2014)
Alma materCornell College
RelativesPatricia (sister)
Rod Blagojevich (brother-in-law)
ParentsRichard Mell
Marge Mell
Websitedebmell.org

Deborah L. Mell (born July 30, 1968) is an American politician from Chicago. She is a Democrat and was formerly a member of the Chicago City Council, representing the 33rd ward from 2013 to 2019. She previously served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2009 to 2013.

Early life, education and career

Mell is the daughter of long-time Alderman Richard Mell. Her sister, former Illinois First Lady Patti, is married to former Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Mell was educated in Chicago, at St John Berchman's Elementary School and St Scholastica High School. She then attended Cornell College with a dual major in political science and history, before earning a culinary arts degree from California Culinary Academy.

Mell returned to Chicago in 2000 and began working at Christy Webber Landscape, Chicago's largest landscaping company owned by prominent lesbian Christy Webber.[1][2]

Mell was arrested in 2004 while protesting her inability to get a same-sex marriage license from the Cook County clerk's office.[3]

In politics

State legislature

The 40th district, located on Chicago's northwest side, was represented by Rep. Rich Bradley prior to 2008. Bradley was pressured to not seek re-election in 2008 by Ald. Richard Mell after Deb Mell announced her intention to run for the seat, choosing instead to challenge Sen. Iris Martinez for a seat in the Illinois Senate.[4] With the help of her father and of Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Joseph Berrios, Mell ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for the seat in the overwhelming Democratic 40th district.[5] Mell's campaign had the support of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.[6] She won 75% of the vote in the general election of November 4, 2008; her opponents, Republican Christine Nere-Foss and Green Party candidate Heather Benno,[7] garnered 15% and 10% respectively.

On January 14, 2009, in one of her first votes in the Illinois House of Representatives, Mell cast the lone vote opposed to impeaching her brother-in-law, then-Governor Rod Blagojevich.[8] This was the second time the House had voted to impeach Blagojevich, and the tally was 117–1.

In November 2008, Mell expressed interest in running in the special election to replace Rahm Emanuel, who would be resigning from the U.S. House of Representatives to serve as President Obama's White House Chief of Staff.[9] Several weeks later, she withdrew from the race.[10]

City council

In July 2013, Alderman Richard Mell, Deb Mell's father, retired from the city council after nearly 40 years. Mayor Rahm Emanuel was charged with appointing his successor and settled on Deb Mell. The appointment was announced on July 24 and confirmed by the city council later that day.[11]

A member of the city council's Committee on Housing and Real Estate, Mell has been criticized by local activists for her financial ties to real estate developers and her involvement in allowing a developer to evict residents of her ward from their homes.[12][13]

Mell's tenure in office ended after losing her 2019 reelection bid. After placing second in the general election round of the 2019 Chicago municipal election, Mell was narrowly defeated in a runoff by Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez.

In the runoff of the 2019 Chicago mayoral election, which coincided with her aldermanic runoff, Mell endorsed Lori Lightfoot.[14] This came despite Lightfoot having, in the first round of Mell's aldermanic reelection campaign, endorsed one of her opponents (Katie Sieracki).[15]

Personal life

Mell is openly lesbian. She was married to Christin Baker from 2011 to 2014.[16][17][18] She was one of four openly LGBT members of the Illinois General Assembly, along with Reps. Greg Harris and Kelly Cassidy, both Democrats from Chicago, and Sam Yingling a Democrat from Round Lake Beach, Illinois, in suburban Chicago.

Mell served on former Mayor Richard M. Daley's Advisory Council for Human Relations and is active in numerous LGBT activist groups. She has received a National Organization for Women award for her activism, as well as the Howard Brown Cornerstone Award for community excellence.[1]

References

  1. ^ "About Deb". Citizens for Deb Mell. Archived from the original on 2008-12-06. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  2. ^ Wooten, Amy (October 29, 2008). "Deb Mell: Breaking New Ground". Windy City Times. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
  3. ^ Patterson, Steve (March 5, 2004). "Gays rip denial of marriage licenses; Gov's sister-in-law lone protester to be arrested". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 8. . .
  4. ^ Joravsky, Ben (January 24, 2008). "Mell Family Politics". Chicago Reader. Vol. 37, no. 18. p. 11. ISSN 1096-6919. . Archived 2012-10-11 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ^ Davis, Andrew (January 30, 2008). "Election 2008: Joseph Berrios Strikes Back". Windy City Times. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
  6. ^ "Deborah Mell". Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. Archived from the original on 2008-01-02. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
  7. ^ "For the Illinois House". Chicago Tribune. October 25, 2008. Archived 2009-01-31 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
  8. ^ "House votes to impeach Blagojevich again". Clout Street. Chicago Tribune. 2009-01-14. Archived from the original on 2009-01-19. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  9. ^ Blake, Aaron (November 6, 2008). "Emanuel departure starts race for vacant seat". TheHill.com. Archived 2008-11-09 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  10. ^ Belluck, Pam (2008-12-11). "Illinois First Lady Faces Scrutiny". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  11. ^ Byrne, John; Long, Ray; Garcia, Monique (July 25, 2013). "Deb Mell inherits Richard Mell's 33rd Ward aldermanic seat / Deb Mell faces skepticism about family ties: New alderman vows to win over critics with hard work". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2013-07-25. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  12. ^ "Campaign donors come first: The Silver Properties story". Deb Mell dot Money. Chicago Working Families. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  13. ^ Lopez, Lynda (December 4, 2017). "Latino Residents Are Being Displaced From Transit-Friendly Buildings in Albany Park". Streetsblog Chicago. Chicagoland Streets Project. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  14. ^ "903 - Alderman Deb Mell endorses Lori Lightfoot in mayoral race - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News Archive". Windy City Times. Windy City Media Group. From a press release. March 25, 2019.
  15. ^ "Press Release - Lightfoot announces aldermanic endorsements • Lightfoot for Chicago Mayor 2019". Lightfoot for Chicago Mayor 2019. January 30, 2019. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  16. ^ Baim, Tracy (June 27, 2007). "Mell Runs for Rep". Windy City Times
  17. ^ Daniels, Serena Maria (April 27, 2010). "Iowa's nice, but Mell wants to marry partner in Illinois". Chicago Tribune. Archived 2013-01-19 at the Wayback Machine.
  18. ^ Korecki, Natasha (July 3, 2014). "Deb Mell says her same-sex marriage is over: 'Divorce is painful'". Early & Often. Sun-Times Media. Archived from the original on 2014-11-01. Retrieved 2014-11-01.