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Ben Chapman graduated from University of Illinois just last year after studying nutrition. During that time he became interested in politics, and has already run for office, twice. Now, he's taken what he's learned and set aside that initial career path to focus on electoral politics, more specifically, reforming the voting process.

“Moving forward, I ask Mr. Goss and Ms. Eisenmann to use the privilege they have as elected officials to make this District and this County the welcoming community I know it can be. As for me, the friends and memories made through my campaign will long be cherished, and I look forward to what we can accomplish together in Champaign County.”

“The energy we are seeing around Betsy Dirken Londrigan’s campaign and around voting on campus isn’t due necessarily to Donald Trump himself but it’s due to a frustration with the forces that created the president that we have,” Chapman said. “That’s a poor electoral system, that’s a culture that doesn’t accept women’s rights with the importance that they have and doesn’t accept sexual assault and sexual violence with the gravity that those issues deserve.”

Chapman, who turned 21 in February, said his "belief in the power and responsibility of young people to repair our current political disarray remains as strong as ever, and I will continue working to ensure the voices of our nation's youth are heard. Furthermore, the concerns I have raised regarding our current leadership persist, and I will dedicate my time and experience to addressing those concerns."

Ben Chapman is running as a Democrat against Jim Goss for District 1. Chapman says he plans on collecting enough signatures to appear on November’s ballot.

Chapman said it really hit him how real this campaign was when he saw his face and news about the campaign on the front page of Reddit. “That made it much more serious and it made me realize much more that I’m now, sort of, a symbol for young people standing up and taking control of the future of our government and of the state and of America.”

“To take this symbol of bondage and oppression and to superimpose it on our national symbol of freedom and hope is unneighborly, unpatriotic, and unAmerican. It is a defilement of our flag and an insult to those values for which our flag stands. As a candidate for County Board District 1, but more importantly, as a Mahometan, an Illinoisan, and an American, I am asking the vendors to take down their flag.”

“Only one other state in the entire 50 states has adopted this new system, so the fact that we’re even talking about it at this high of a level shows that this is something that is being taken seriously,” said Ben Chapman, senior in ACES and president of Illinoisans for Ranked Choice Voting.

“I am encouraged that Mr. Jackson was so prompt and gracious with his response. Our team is excited to work with his campaign to further the discussion of electoral justice in Illinois," says Ben Chapman, president of Illinoisans for Ranked Choice Voting.

"But being a representative is more about listening than talking," he said. "It's more about having integrity and a motive to serve and do what's right. To have a compassion and help people. To try to meet them where they're at and say that you know what they're feeling, and you'll do whatever you can to help them. I think anyone can do it at any age."

“By offering this voter education event, we can inform voters on who they might choose to support in the upcoming election, which we believe is valuable public service,” Chapman said.

A presentation to the Champaign County League of Women Voters of Champaign County.

"It's giving public school students a chance to learn about students that come from a different background, who have different beliefs, who come from different socio-economic classes, who have different passions and life goals," Chapman said.

“The current system of first past the post voting kind of threatens third party voters and forces them into voting for the lesser of two evils of the main two candidates. You’re scared to waste your vote voting for a third party candidate, so we’ve run into the roadblocks with those main two parties,” Ben Chapman, president of the Illinoisans for Ranked Choice Voting, said.

An interview with Ben Theobald about running for County Board, ranked choice voting, and California wildfires.