Representative Donna Edwards is the ultimate progressive success story. A longtime community activist, Donna ran a grassroots campaign to victory against a corrupt incumbent congressman in 2008. Now, she's serving as a congresswoman from Maryland and has proven herself to be one of the best progressive voices in Washington.

As a congresswoman, Donna fought hard for healthcare reform with a public option, to bring relief to struggling homeowners, and to make it easier for unions to organize -- all in her first year on the job. Donna has proven herself to be a real progressive champion in her first term and she'll continue to work hard for progressive everywhere in the years ahead.

Representative Alan Grayson is living proof that Democrats win when they stand up for what they believe in. Grayson ran for Congress in his traditionally conservative area as a progressive Democrat, going on to win 52 percent of the vote in November 2008.

Since heading to Washington, Grayson has become one of the progressive movement's best voices, taking the fight for real healthcare reform with a public option straight to the Republicans working to killing any and all reform.

DFA members have supported Sen. Obama from the very beginning, which earned him one of the first “Dean Dozen” endorsements for his 2004 U.S. Senate race.

Obama for America has been fueled by millions and millions of activists and small donors, making it the first presidential campaign truly run and funded by the American people since Howard Dean’s revolutionary 2004 campaign. With such overwhelming grassroots support, Sen. Obama will run a White House independent of corporate lobbyist influence and truly answerable to the American people.

Jeff Smith is a Chicago native, a longtime local DFA member, a progressive activist who follows talk with action. He's running the only type of campaign he knows how -- one that's run at the grassroots level with boots-on-the-ground support from volunteers.

Jeff has shown that he's a real progressive, ready to put the rubber to the road and speak truth to power. He's been a great voice in the Chicago area and he'll be a great voice for the Chicago area in Springfield.

Todd Connor has dedicated his life to public service -- as a lieutenant in the United States Navy and later as an investigator in the Illinois Inspector General's office. Now, Todd wants to continue that tradition as a member of Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.

Todd brings commonsense solutions to the problems facing the District -- competitive bidding, investment in green technologies, transparency and accountability. These progressive solutions are needed at all levels of government and Todd is the candidate to bring to Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.

Ed Mullen is the people's progressive. He's running a campaign fueled by the people on the ground and he's running to work on some of the state's biggest issues -- campaign finance reform, job growth, marriage equality and more.

Ed is not the insider's candidate. He's a community leader with a history of progressive activism. In Springfield, he'll be a real representative of the people and he'll help fix a government that is both broken and corrupt.

Governor Pat Quinn's long history of progressive activism, his fight against corrupt government officials and special interests, and his work for the people of Illinois makes him a real progressive champion and has earned him the support of DFA members for years. Now, as Governor, he's working for more and better government ethics laws, a more progressive tax code and more.

There was no better person to lead the state of Illinois out of scandal and toward more open, honest state government in the year since Rod Blagojevich was removed from office than Governor Pat Quinn and there's no better person to lead it in the years ahead.

Chicago is a machine town, but one candidate for Cook County Board President stands out above the rest as a real reformer: Toni Preckwinkle.

Toni is in this race to restore the basic principles of good government to the Cook County Board -- Provide the best services possible and do so effectively. These are principles in government all but forgotten by corrupt incumbent Todd Stroger.

As president, Toni will not only restore these principles, but get to work on solving some of Cook County's biggest problems -- a regressive tax system and broken justice system.

Mariyana Spyropoulos has served on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District for six months and has proven to be a smart, honest Commissioner during that time. She's also been one of the District's best progressive voices, working to improve the quality of rivers and groundwater, promote green roofs and educate the public on the benefits of conservation.

Mariyana's activism, independence and thoughtfulness as Commissioner have been a breath of fresh air on the MWRD and she'll continue to be a progressive leader in the District for years to come.