Jay Footlik

Jay Kerry Footlik is a Democrat who is currently running for the United States House of Representatives in Illinois's 10th congressional district. He previously worked in the Office of Presidential Personnel for Bill Clinton.

Background
A native of Skokie, Illinois, Footlik attended Niles North High School and Ezra Habonim, the Niles Township Jewish Congregation. Footlik also performed in local theater at Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, and Second City.

Footlik attended college at UCLA where he earned a B.A. in Political Science, specializing in the Arab-Israeli conflict. He also holds a law degree from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles.

Footlik’s wife, Grace, is a Brazilian-born Israeli artist. They have one daughter, Yarden, who is two years old.

Public Service
Jay Footlik began his career in federal public service in 1992 as a staffer in the Bill Clinton for President "War Room." After the election, Footlik served as the Special Assistant to the President as Principal Liaison to the American Jewish Community in the Clinton White House.

In 1998, Footlik began to build a consulting firm that he established along with Yuval Rabin (the son of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin). As a partner with the firm DiNovo Strategies, Inc. Footlik focused on establishing a secure peace in the Middle East.

In the 2004 Presidential election, Footlik began working for Joseph Lieberman’s campaign for President. Afterwards, he was asked to serve as Senior Adviser on Middle East and Jewish Affairs for the Kerry/Edwards Campaign.

Jay Footlik serves as a member of the board of trustees of the [http://www.acypl.org/about_us.html American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL)], a non-profit and bi-partisan exchange program designed to establish connections between future leaders across the globe. The program includes education on matters of foreign policy, diplomacy, and democracy.

Additionally, Footlik is a member of the board of directors of the . The Rabin center is a museum committed to keeping the memory and learning lessons from assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Footlik also is on the board of directors for [http://www.secureenergy.org/about_organization.php SAFE (Securing America’s Future Energy)], which is an organization dedicated to reducing American dependency on oil. SAFE emphasizes the national security threat of foreign oil dependency and provides recommendations of alternatives to oil for industries.

Footlik is a frequent speaker on a variety of subject matter including American politics and presidential elections as well as foreign policy and the Middle East. He has lectured frequently to groups throughout the U.S., Canada, Israel and Brazil.

2008 Election
Footlik is running against Dan Seals for the Democratic nomination in Illinois' 10th congressional district on Tuesday, February 5. 2008 in the Illinois Primary Election. The winner of the primary will run against Republican Congressman Mark Kirk.

Stated Policy Positions
Education
Like a lot of people, Jay struggled to pay for college and law school and he knows that many American families also struggle to afford this essential stepping stone to a middle class life. Jay believes that the government should focus on helping families afford college tuition through larger federal financial aid, more generous savings vehicles and reduced subsidies for for-profit lenders.

Environment
Through his active involvement with SAFE (Securing America's Future Energy - www.secureenergy.org), Jay has worked hard to encourage the U.S. to develop alternative, clean and abundant energy sources at home so we don't have to send our energy dollars to unstable or unfriendly regimes;

Health Care
Jay knows firsthand that the lack of good health insurance can destroy a person's life; he believes the U.S. is too prosperous a nation not to give citizens universal access to proper health care and health insurance;

Homeland Security
Jay's professional life since leaving the White House has focused on how to keep the U.S. and its allies safer; he understands better than most that by spending our security dollars smarter, we could protect our kids and our families from terror;

Foreign Policy Leadership
Jay believes strongly in the value of U.S. leadership around the world – whether in Darfur, the Middle East, or elsewhere; Jay's political heroes are great American presidents – FDR, Truman, JFK – who always believed that America's destiny was tied up in the peace and prosperity of the entire world.

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