Susana A. Mendoza (born May 13, 1972) is an American politician. She is the 10th and current Comptroller of Illinois, taking office on December 5, 2016. She previously served as the City Clerk of Chicago from 2011 to 2016. Mendoza is a member of the Democratic Party, was the first Latina to be elected to the position of Illinois Comptroller, and is the highest ranking Hispanic elected official in Illinois. In 2022, Mendoza was the state of Illinois' top vote getter.
Mendoza was first elected as Illinois State Representative in 2000 and served six terms. In February 2011, she was elected City Clerk of Chicago, becoming the first woman to hold this position. She was twice elected City Clerk and served for five years before successfully running for the role of Illinois Comptroller in 2016. Mendoza ran unsuccessfully in the 2019 Chicago mayoral election.
Early life and education
Mendoza was born in Chicago to Joaquin and Susana Mendoza, immigrants from Mexico who arrived in the 1960s.[1] Due to violence in her Little Village neighborhood, her family relocated to Woodridge and later Bolingbrook, Illinois, during her childhood.[2]
Mendoza completed her high school education at Bolingbrook High School in 1990, achieving All-State and All-Midwest honors in varsity soccer then pursued higher education at Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University), where she attended on a combined soccer and academic scholarship, graduating in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration.[3][4][5] During her college soccer career, from 1990 to 1994, she redshirted the 1993 season due to an injury sustained in the first game.[3] Over her collegiate career, she made 68 appearances, scoring 10 goals and assisting another 10 for the Lady Bulldogs, also earning All-Midwest Honors.[6]
After graduating, Mendoza returned to Chicago's Little Village neighborhood with her family. She began working full-time in the hospitality industry and later as an account executive at an advertising firm. In her free time, she became actively involved in community organizing within her neighborhood, which marked the start of her engagement in Chicago politics.[1]
Career
State representative (2001–2011)
In 1998, Mendoza ran for office in the 1st Legislative District with the support of the regular Democratic Organization but narrowly lost to independent progressive incumbent Sonia Silva, who was backed by House Speaker Mike Madigan.[7][8] In 2000, with endorsements from Mayor Daley and the Hispanic Democratic Organization, Mendoza ran a second time to secure a position as an Illinois State Representative. At 28, she became the youngest member of the 92nd Illinois General Assembly.[9]
During her tenure, Mendoza chaired the International Trade and Commerce Committee, Vice-chairwoman of the Bio-Technology Committee and was a member of the Labor, Public Utilities and Railroad Industry committees of the House.[10] She co-chaired the Conference of Women Legislators, helped establish the first Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus, and passed a bill to provide school children with breakfast.[10][11]
Mendoza served as an Illinois Democratic delegate in the primary elections for presidential candidates Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004.[12] In 2002, she visited the African countries of Uganda and Tanzania as a delegate for the American Council of Young Political Leaders.[13] In June 2004, the State Department selected Mendoza to represent the National Democratic Party in Brazil, where she debated the party's presidential platform.[13] In 2010, Mendoza was a member of a delegation of U.S. elected women from across the nation selected by the National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL) in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State, who served as official Election Observers of the Iraqi elections in Baghdad.[14][15]
City Clerk of Chicago (2011–2016)
Mendoza was the first woman elected City Clerk in Chicago.
Mendoza was the first woman to hold the position of City Clerk in Chicago.[16]As the 43rd City Clerk of Chicago, Mendoza used technology to modernize and improve city services, such as an online document management system and year-round city vehicle sticker sales. She also worked to modernize the city's infrastructure, including expanding services for minority and immigrant communities.[17]
After her election in 2011, she managed an office that generated over $100million annually from vehicle sticker sales. She reformed the city's vehicle sticker program from an annual event in place since 1908 to a year-round system, achieving an annual savings of approximately $4million.[18]
She initiated the Companion Animal and Consumer Protection Ordinance, which prohibited Chicago pet stores from selling dogs, cats or rabbits unless sourced from humane shelters or animal rescues.[19][20]
Illinois Comptroller (2016–present)
Mendoza assumed office as the Illinois Comptroller after a special election in December 2016.[21][22] Since taking office, she has focused on improving Illinois’ financial transparency and reducing its budget deficit.[23] She has led efforts to streamline the state's financial reporting processes and modernize its accounting systems.[23]
Mendoza focused on paying down the state's $16.7billion backlog of unpaid bills; targeting the bills on which she could get federal matching funds.[24][25] By April 2021, she paid the backlog down to $3.5billion.[26] The backlog has stayed under $3billion since later that year, helping usher in nine credit rating upgrades from the bond rating agencies.[27][28]
In her inaugural year, Mendoza spearheaded the Debt Transparency Act, which mandates monthly debt reports from state agencies.[23] Despite being vetoed by the governor, the legislation passed after receiving unanimous support in the House of Representatives and a substantial majority in the State Senate.[29]
During her second year, Mendoza supported three further transparency measures. These included the Truth-in-Hiring Act,[30] which mandates that governors list all employees on their payroll; the Truth in Budgeting Act,[31] which requires governors to account for Late Payment Interest Penalties in their budget proposals; and the Vendor Payment Program Transparency Act, which obliges lenders to state vendors to disclose their ownership and funding sources.[32]
Mendoza was re-elected as comptroller in 2018, securing nearly 60% of the vote against Republican nominee Darlene Senger.[33] In 2020, editorials in major state newspapers cited the transparency portal she developed as Comptroller, which tracked how Illinois spent every penny of federal COVID-19 relief money, and urged their own states to follow her example.[34][35][36]
On November 2, 2018, a video from Mendoza's campaign became public, showing her plans to run for Mayor of Chicago in 2019 while she was also seeking re-election as comptroller.[37][38] She officially announced her mayoral candidacy on November 14, aiming to succeed Mayor Rahm Emanuel.[9]
On December 14, 2018, another mayoral candidate, Toni Preckwinkle, contested Mendoza's 12,500 petition signatures required for ballot eligibility, citing potential fraud and inconsistencies.[39] However, after a verification process, Preckwinkle withdrew her challenge on December 19, acknowledging that Mendoza had secured over 13,000 valid signatures.[40]
During the early stages of her campaign, Mendoza was one of the leading candidates in both polling and fundraising.[41] Public polls in late 2018 frequently showed Mendoza and Preckwinkle as the frontrunners.[42][43] However, by January 2019, Mendoza's standing in polls fluctuated, and by February, she was not leading in any polls.[44][45]
Preckwinkle and Mendoza, along with several candidates were linked to Alderman Edward M. Burke which influenced the mayoral race.[41][46] She aimed to garner significant support from Hispanic voters and did receive the most support from this group in the first round of voting, although Hispanic voter turnout was notably low.[47] In the end, she received the highest support among Hispanic voters of any candidate in the first round.[48] However, Hispanic voter turnout was low.[48]
In mid-February, Mendoza and fellow contender Lori Lightfoot criticized Preckwinkle for holding a women-centered campaign rally, accusing her of portraying herself as a victim in light of a scandal involving her former chief of staff.[51] Mendoza also critiqued another candidate, William M. Daley, which journalist Gregory Pratt later noted had impacted Daley's campaign negatively among union members.[52]
Mendoza finished fifth in the primary election with 9.05% of the vote and did not advance to the runoff. On March 23, 2019, she endorsed Lori Lightfoot for mayor in the subsequent runoff election.[53]
Personal life
In December 2011, Mendoza married David Szostak, who attended Bolingbrook High School with her.[54] In 2012, their son was born.[54]
↑ Pratt, Gregory Royal (2024). The City is Up for Grabs: How Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Led and Lost a City in Crisis. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. p.81. ISBN978-1641605991.
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