Susan Catania

State Representative Susan Catania, a White Reformer in a predominantly Black Democratic district on Chicago’s near south side, won the lone Republican seat that had previously been held by State Representative Genoa Washington in 1972, when each legislative district elected three state representatives.

She won the small cluster of White precincts in the district, plus the Black and White Independent vote. She was elected to four more terms, went on to become the chief sponsor of the Equal Rights Amendment, and later ran for Lieutenant Governor.