Contacting Your Legislators

Here are step-by-step instructions for identifying and contacting your Illinois legislators.

Identify Your State Senator and Representative
1. Go to the Illinois State Board of Elections website.
2. Once there, scroll down to the New District/Official Search. A desktop version and a lite/mobile version (recommended) are available. Click on that option.
3. Type your home address to locate your lawmakers are in Springfield. Confirm your address.
4. You will now see a list of public officials who represent you in both federal and state government. Be sure to look specifically for the person who represents your specific Senate District and your Representative District. These two people are your legislators in Springfield.

Finding Contact Information for State Senators and Representatives
1. Under “Senate District #_,” and Representative District #_,” you will find the address and phone information for your State Senator and State Representative. Their e-mail may also be included.
2. If you have used your phone to look them up, you can click on their phone number and call them right away!
3. Use their local address, listed secondly, for your letters and postcards.
4. If an e-mail address is not included, you can simply call their office and ask for it. Or, go to www.ilga.gov, and click on Senate or House “Members” to pull up a list of legislators. Find your State Senator and State Representative and click on their name. If they publish their email, it will be just below their photo.

Contacting Your State Senator and Representative
Sending Letter to your legislators:
Your purpose for writing should be stated in the first paragraph of the letter, for example, I write to ask for your support of MAP funding for fiscal year 2017. Be courteous, to the point, and include key information, using examples to support your position. Address only one issue (Fund MAP Now), and, if possible, keep the letter to one page.

Addressing correspondence:

To a Senator:
The Honorable (full name)
Illinois State Senate
Chicago, Illinois
Dear Senator (last name):

To a Representative:
The Honorable (full name)
Illinois State House of Representatives
Chicago, Illinois
Dear Representative (last name):

Sending e-mail to your legislators:
When addressing an E-mail to a legislator, follow the same suggestions as for a printed letter. For the subject line of your e-mail, use Fund MAP Now. The body of your message should use this format:

Your name
Address
City, State, Zip Code
Dear (title) (last name),
Start your message here.

Calling your legislators:
When calling your legislator, you may ask for the elected official (by title and last name), but expect to leave a brief message with an assistant. When leaving a message, make sure you let them know who you are (name, address, phone number and your college/university), let them know you are calling to ask for support of MAP funding for fiscal year 2017. Indicate if you would like a response from the elected official.