About Girl, I Guess:

Girl, I Guess is Jewish, Black, queer, trans, nerdy and dedicated to helping members of the Chicago and Cook County community navigate a confusing ballot and identify the most progressive candidates.

The Girl, I Guess Progressive Voter Guide was founded in 2018 by Stephanie Skora and Ellen Mayer with the goal of WORDS WORDS WORDS. After Ellen retired from journalism following the 2019 Municipal Election, Stephanie continued writing Girl, I Guess solo. The Guide expanded in scope to cover all competitive and contested elections in Chicago and most of Cook County. In 2024, Girl, I Guess became the nation’s largest independent voter guide, with nearly 100,000 readers in Cook County. What does Girl, I Guess mean by “independent”? We mean that the Guide isn’t affiliated with any organization, PAC, candidate, or political party. We’re two queers with a Google Doc (and now a website!), a lot of opinions, and the research skills to find the dirt on candidates that voters deserve to know. In 2024, Stephanie invited Raeghn Draper to co-write the Guide while Stephanie continued as a writer and took on the role of editor. Raeghn has served as co-writer since the 2024 Primary Election Guide.

Candidates are evaluated in Girl, I Guess by using publicly available information from the candidates’ websites and in media outlets, as well as the candidates’ publicly available funding disclosures. Girl, I Guess does not traffic in rumor, hearsay, or information that cannot be proven by a preponderance of the evidence. Stephanie and Raeghn also consult with local politicos and organizers that they trust, and include information that those individuals pass along, provided that the information can be independently verified or backed up by documentation. Girl, I Guess is not a newspaper, but we strive to use rigorous journalistic standards in our coverage.

Candidates are judged based on the overall progressive nature of their platform, which varies for Federal and State races. Metrics that all non-Judicial candidates are being judged upon include: 

  • Support for a free Palestine and BDS

  • Support for Medicare for All/Single Payer for Illinois

  • Support for Ranked Choice Voting

  • Stance on workers’ rights and unions

  • Support for canceling Student Loan Debt

  • Progressive policies on Housing Justice, especially Just Cause for Eviction

  • Support for a Universal Basic Income, and/or a higher national minimum wage

  • Endorsements from meaningful progressives, and (some) past Girl, I Guess endorsees

  • Progressive positions on climate change

  • Progressives positions on racial justice and defunding/abolishing police and prisons

  • Support for decriminalizing sex work

  • Support for trans people, intersex people, and the broader LGBTQ community

  • Support for addressing gerrymandering, and voter suppression

  • Stance on term limits

  • Being pro-choice (AKA The Lipinski Rule)

  • And more, depending on the individual races!

Judicial Candidates are evaluated on the following criteria, with help in making these determinations coming from the research done by the nonpartisan nonprofit Injustice Watch: 

  1. Is this judge a cop?

  2. Is this judge sketchy, suspicious, or have they done bad/controversial things in the past?

  3. Is this judge a dumbass?

  4. Do Bar Associations think that this judge is qualified?