Chicago City Wire

A Chicago City Wire analysis of the voting records of 88 Chicago-area epidemiologists and public health professionals found that one voted Republican in the 2018 Illinois primary, while 51 voted Democrat.

The other 36 epidemiologists analyzed didn't vote.

The analysis comes as epidemiologists take center stage amid the COVID-19 crisis and our state and federal government's responses to it.

Epidemiologists, who specialize in the study of patterns of illnesses and injury in different groups of individuals, have been responsible for devising the "models" being used by elected officials to assess the prospective spread of COVID-19 and to make policy decisions. 

While they don't always hold a medical degree, they collect and analyze data on sickness in individuals for public health departments, governments and universities like the University of Washington, whose models are being used by the federal government to instruct policy.

At Northwestern University in Evanston, 25 of 47 public health professionals analyzed voted in the 2018 Democrat primary; zero voted Republican and 22 didn't vote. 

At the University of Illinois Chicago’s School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, there were 20 epidemiologists out of 28 who voted for Democrats, one for a Republican, and 7 whose votes could not be determined for specific political parties.

And, at the University of Chicago’s Public Health Sciences, among 13 epidemiologists, 6 voted for Democrats. There were no votes for Republican candidates and 7 votes that could not be determined for either party.

Primary voting records-- which party ballot one pulls, not for whom they voted-- are part of the public record, maintained by the Illinois State Board of Elections.

"Health equity"

Epidemiologists in the U.S. increasingly conduct research that is less about public health and more about race and ethnicity. Their work is often used by politicians to advocate for changes in laws and regulations, seeking to blame sickness and disease in minority groups on the racism of white Americans.

Kiarri Kershaw is a "social epidemiologist" at Northwestern who writes frequently on "health equity," or alleged disparity in health care availability among black and Hispanic populations. In January, she co-authored a study of whether "discrimination" is to blame for the higher incidence of diabetes in blacks.

Epidemiologist and professor Victoria Persky of UIC "engages with underserved minority communities in Chicago to identify and address potential environmental hazards of concern." Her work blames insufficient "neighborhood food outlet access" for kidney disease amongst black Chicagoans and a lack of "urban greenness" and neighborhood crime for asthma in Mexican-Americans.

--

Epidemiologists: How They Voted

Name	City	Primaries 2018	Primaries 2016	Primaries 2014	Primaries 2012	Employer
Amanda Mathew	Chicago	N/A	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Thomas Mc Dade	Evanston	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Nicholas Soulakis	Winnetka	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Kristen Knutson	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	Republican	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Clyde Yancy	Chicago	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Laura Rasmussen-Torvik	Evanston	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Sadiya Khan	Oak Park	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Audrey Brewer	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Namratha Kandula	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Hannah Alphs Jackson	Chicago	N/A	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Linda Van Horn	Elmhurst	N/A	Republican	N/A	Republican	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman	Winnetka	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Amy Eisenstein	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Siobhan White	Hanover Park	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Mark Huffman	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Lisa Vanwagner	Chicago	N/A	Republican	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Nanette Benbow	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Joseph Feinglass	Evanston	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Ravi Kalhan	Chicago	N/A	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Craig Garfield	Evanston	Democratic	N/A	Democratic	Democratic	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
John Wilkins	Wilmette	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Erin Paquette	Lincolnwood	N/A	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Kelly Michelson	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Charlesnika Evans	Chicago	Democratic	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Denise Scholtens	Oak Park	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Kiarri Kershaw	Chicago	Democratic	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Bahram Rahmani	Northbrook	N/A	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Jennifer Brown	Wilmette	N/A	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Philip Greenland	Evanston	Democratic	Republican	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Mercedes Carnethon	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Dorothy Dunlop	Libertyville	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Rowland Chang	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Ruchi Gupta	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Amy Cohen	Wilmette	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
David Mohr	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Donald Lloyd-Jones	Winnetka	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Juned Siddique	Chicago	N/A	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Sanjiv Shah	Chicago	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Michelle Birkett	Berwyn	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Amy Krefman	Oak Park	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Patricia Moreno	Chicago	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
June Mckoy	Chicago	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Norrina Allen	Winnetka	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Darren Eblovi	Chicago	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Elizabeth Hibler	Chicago	Democratic	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Kristin Kan	Chicago	Democratic	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Thanh Huyen Vu	Chicago	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Northwestern University Center for Epidemiology & Population Health
Jerry Krishnan	Clarendon Hills	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Supriya Mehta	Chicago	Democratic	N/A	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Steven Seweryn	Chicago Ridge	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	Republican	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Heng Wang	Hoffman Estates	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Victoria Persky	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	Democratic	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Ronald Hershow	Wilmette	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Garth Rauscher	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Li Liu	Chicago	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Kristin Rankin	Palos Park	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Daniel Albert	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
M Dworkin	Wheaton	Republican	Republican	N/A	Republican	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Caryn Peterson	Evanston	N/A	Democratic	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Vincent Freeman	Oak Park	N/A	Democratic	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Wayne Giles	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Liliana Aceves	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Mary Ellen Turyk	Downers Grove	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Paul Goldstein	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Amanda Abramson	Chicago	Democratic	N/A	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Leslie Stayner	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Hui Xie	Chicago	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Deborah Rosenberg	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Saria Awadalla	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Dulal Bhaumik	River Forest	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Sally Freels	Chicago	Democratic	N/A	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Edwin Chen	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	Republican	Republican	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Stuart Olshansky	Buffalo Grove	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Therese Dolecek	Naperville	Democratic	Republican	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Maria Argos	Chicago	Democratic	N/A	N/A	N/A	UIC School of Public Health Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department
Habibul Ahsan	Chicago	N/A	Democratic	N/A	N/A	The University of Chicago Public Health Sciences
Rita Konetzka	Chicago	N/A	Democratic	N/A	N/A	The University of Chicago Public Health Sciences
James Dignam	Chicago	N/A	Democratic	N/A	N/A	The University of Chicago Public Health Sciences
Diane Lauderdale	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	Democratic	The University of Chicago Public Health Sciences
Brandon Pierce	Chicago	Democratic	N/A	N/A	N/A	The University of Chicago Public Health Sciences
Robert Gibbons	Chicago	N/A	Democratic	N/A	N/A	The University of Chicago Public Health Sciences
Donald Hedeker	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	Republican	Democratic	The University of Chicago Public Health Sciences
John Schneider	Chicago	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	The University of Chicago Public Health Sciences
Harold Pollack	Flossmoor	Democratic	Democratic	N/A	N/A	The University of Chicago Public Health Sciences
Brian Chiu	Wilmette	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	The University of Chicago Public Health Sciences
Prachi Sanghavi	Chicago	N/A	Democratic	N/A	N/A	The University of Chicago Public Health Sciences
Dezheng Huo	Chicago	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	The University of Chicago Public Health Sciences
Marcia Tan	Chicago	Democratic	N/A	N/A	N/A	The University of Chicago Public Health Sciences

SOURCE: ILLINOIS STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS