Marsha Griffin of Jonesboro, standing at podium, announced her candidacy for state representative Thursday evening, Oct. 19, in Carbondale. Photo provided.

Griffin candidate for state representative

Union County resident Marsha Griffin, a local elementary school teacher and community volunteer who has organized on behalf of correctional officers and their families, will be a candidate for state representative in 2018.

Griffin, a Democrat from Jonesboro, announced her candidacy Thursday evening, Oct. 19, in front of a crowd of supporters during an event held at the civic center in Carbondale.

She is running to be elected as representative from the 115th District in Southern Illinois.

The district includes Jefferson County and parts of Union, Jackson, Perry and Washington counties.

The incumbent is State Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro. Griffin and Bryant faced off in the 2016 election.

“After seeing the devastating effects of the budget impasse, not only on SIU, but on social services and critical programs for those who need it the most, I feel called to continue my mission to helping improve Southern Illinois and ending the partisan gridlock that we are seeing in Springfield,” Griffin said in announcing her candidacy. 

“I’ve been a lifelong resident of Southern Illinois, and I want to see our area grow and reach its full potential. But due to the failed policies of Bruce Rauner and Terri Bryant, we have been set back and the middle-class is continuing to suffer. 

“For too long, we have been ignored by politicians, and we need someone who will not back down from speaking up, loud and clear, for the values and needs of our district,” Griffin said. 

“I’ve already heard from hundreds about the struggles and concerns that working families have as I have knocked on doors in every part of the district. Illinois is facing vast financial problems, but the solutions should not be placed on the backs of the middle class.”

Griffin created a faith-based advocacy group called My Brother’s Keeper, which was organized in opposition to former Gov. Pat Quinn’s closure of the Tamms Correctional Center. 

Griffin’s group helped corrections workers and their families voice their concerns about the dangerous working conditions in overcrowded prisons. 

Part of the group’s mission has been to fight to protect workers and prevent the closure of state facilities that provide thousands of jobs to local residents.

Griffin vowed to carry on her advocacy for workers and middle class families as state representative by protecting the vital state services that the middle class, women and the elderly depend on.

Griffin said Bryant and other politicians who put Rauner’s interests ahead of the needs of the middle class “have not stood up for Southern Illinois families.”

“We deserve a state representative who will stand up to Bruce Rauner and fight for the needs of our district. Whether my opponent is Terri Bryant or another candidate in the pocket of Governor Rauner, I’m going to take my case for independent leadership to every corner of this district, and hold politicians accountable for the mess in Springfield,” Griffin said. 

“Our area deserves a legislator who isn’t afraid to vote on the issues that are important to the district. 

“Whether I am organizing against Pat Quinn’s plans to cut Southern Illinois jobs instead of Chicago waste, or standing up to Bruce Rauner and his allies’ anti-middle class agenda.

“I’ve never been someone who backs down. The only people I’m going to represent are the people of this district.”

A lifelong resident of Southern Illinois, Griffin resides in Jonesboro with her husband, Rich, and their son, Brandon. 

The Gazette-Democrat

112 Lafayette St.
Anna, Illinois 62906
Office Number: (618) 833-2158
Email: news@annanews.com

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