Neighbors in Beverly gathered at Bethany Union Church of Chicago on Tuesday night to hear from candidates running in the upcoming Democratic primary. The event was organized by Politics and Coffee, a group started by local resident Rachel Hoge to bring together progressive and left-leaning neighbors for community building and political action.
“There is such an engaged group of people down in the Beverly and Morgan Park area,” said Hoge. “There has been such a good response to having this kind of event, and I want to make sure that these candidates know that there is a large number of people who are civically engaged and are voters.”
Politics and Coffee held its first meeting in January at Two Mile Coffee Bar, where about 50 people attended. Organizers say interest grew quickly, with around 150 people registering for Tuesday’s forum.
“I think this is something that people have been wanting, and I want it personally,” Hoge said.
Before the meeting began, Rev. Lawrence Cameron of Bethany Union Church welcomed attendees. He noted that the last similar gathering at the church included the late Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., who died Tuesday after decades as a civil rights leader in Chicago. Jackson had visited Beverly in March 2023 during an Illinois 123GO town hall for Brandon Johnson ahead of the mayoral runoff election.
Stephanie Hickey, a volunteer from Evergreen Park, joined Politics and Coffee seeking greater political involvement. “Times are kind of rough out there in the political world. I feel like we can spend a lot of time at home quietly in our circle spiraling, or we can go out in our community and organize and be a part of something,” Hickey said.
Tuesday’s event featured coffee from Beverly Bakery and included appearances by Senate candidates Rep. Robin Kelly and Kevin Ryan; Illinois Comptroller candidates Holly Kim and Karina Villa; county Assessor Fritz Kaegi; and judicial candidate Dave Condron from Cook County’s 19th sub-circuit.
Each candidate spoke briefly before answering questions from attendees. Bonnie McShane, a Beverly resident, said she appreciated learning directly from those running for office: “I really appreciated it; I actually was getting to see and hear from candidates I get to vote for. Honestly, I was like, ‘What does the assessor or comptroller do?’ Now I know. That was cool to have all of those people there in front of us in our community,” McShane said.
Beverly resident Shanya Gray also valued hearing directly from candidates: “It was a wonderful and informative event. It was great to hear from candidates themselves up close and personal,” Gray said. “I kind of pinch myself because sometimes I don’t think we recognize the privilege we have that we can get the candidates to come to our neck of the woods and almost have a personal session with us.”
Hoge has over 15 years’ experience working in politics and nonprofits, including organizing locally for Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign. She hopes Politics and Coffee will keep residents involved through regular monthly meetings.
“I wanted to have a regular monthly way for people to be involved so that we can take action more strategically or quickly when it is needed,” Hoge said. “People can come and have conversations and be around other like-minded people and know that it is on the second Tuesday of every month.”
The next meeting is scheduled for March 10 with Senate candidate Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Rep. Sean Casten, and Illinois Comptroller candidate state Rep. Margaret Croke.
For more information or to RSVP, sign up here.
