Mike Quigley's constituents canvassing outside his office in Chicago asking him to stop taking campaign contributions from weapons companies & calling him out for voting for the bloated pentagon budget. 

By Tasnim Ali 

"Despite the cold, I knew the work we were doing mattered." said Lam Trinh, a DePaul University student who has been organizing with CODEPINK and Chicago Area Peace Action DePaul to demand that her representative, Mike Quigley, stop taking campaign contributions from weapons companies. 

For the last month, constituents in Representative Quigley's district have been building a campaign against the influence of weapons companies on politicians. After finding out that Representative Quigley accepted thousands of donations from companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon in the last election cycle, IL-5 residents got to work. This past Wednesday, after Quigley voted to increase the already massive Pentagon budget, his constituents canvassed the neighborhood around his office talking to his other constituents about the influence that weapons companies have over their representative. It was thirty degrees, but spirits were high and organizers were motivated. Their flyers told Quigley's constituents that he takes campaign contributions from companies that make a killing on killing and told them how to contact Quigley about the issue. 

"I think people in our district need to know that Quigley takes money from these companies that profit off of war. There's a reason he keeps voting to increase the Pentagon budget. His campaign donors like Lockheed Martin benefit from increased Pentagon spending" said Grace Seigelman, another resident working on the "Divest Mike" campaign. 

Samir Muhammad, another organizer on the campaign said, "We are just doing our part. The less money going into campaigns from these companies the better. Once we win, and more people in other districts demand the same thing, we can more effectively push against more arms sales and against Pentagon spending." 

Quigley's constituents do not plan on letting up anytime soon. The group can be found on Twitter, tweeting at Quigley every day with their demands. They also plan on doing a canvass every week asking other people in the district to call Quigley and tell him to refuse any more campaign contributions from weapons companies. 

If you're interested in starting a similar campaign in your district, please email [email protected].