Ridge Knapp is running for state representative in Illinois’ 13th Distirct—one of the most LGBTQ+-represented legislative races in the state.
Knapp, who identifies as bisexual, is one of three openly queer candidates vying for the North Side seat. Others include Sunjay Kumar and Demi Palecek. If elected, Knapp would be the youngest state representative in Illinois at age 27.
Knapp moved to Chicago nearly a decade ago for college and later earned a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago. He said his entry into politics traces back to high school activism around banning conversion therapy in his home state of Connecticut.
He and his friends from their high school GAS pushed their state senator for support.
“We picked up some clipboards. We started knocking doors,” Knapp said. “That was in 2016 and [later] when I moved to Chicago, I got interested and engaged in organizing early on during the first Trump administration.”
Knapp later worked full-time on Congresswoman Lauren Underwood’s 2020 reelection campaign, served as a data analyst in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office under Kim Foxx, and most recently joined President Biden—and later Vice President Harris’s—reelection campaign on its national analytics team.
He said work inside government shaped how he thinks about policy impacts on marginalized people.
“At the State’s Attorney’s Office, I got a chance to work with data and policy and look at making sure our criminal justice system was actually just—no longer overly criminalizing marginalized communities,” Knapp said. “My sense of justice is informed by that work, but also by my father’s experience with homelessness.”
Knapp’s father, he shared, lost housing due to health and employment challenges before his passing two years ago.
“Even when you have a family trying to support you, if resources aren’t fully funded, we see outcomes like that,” Knapp said. “It motivates me to ask: How good can we actually build a future that helps everyone?”
LGBTQ+ policies and protecting gender-affirming care
LGBTQ+ issues, Knapp said, aren’t just part of his platform—they are the reason he entered politics.
“LGBTQ issues are what got me into politics in the first place,” he said.
With hospitals in Illinois reducing or pausing gender-affirming care for youth under federal pressure, Knapp said the state must step in.
“We’re seeing pre-compliance of hospitals when it comes to trans healthcare, especially for trans kids—I think that is abhorrent,” Knapp said. “I think the state has to pick up the slack a little bit when it comes to funding. As we remain a sanctuary state … we need to expand that also to protections for trans Illinoisans and broadly trans Americans.”
Knapp added that LGBTQ issues cut across housing, healthcare access, criminal justice and education.
“We see disproportionately LGBTQ Illinoisans facing issues when it comes to housing security or over-victimization by the criminal justice system,” Knapp said. “Sometimes we pass good progressive values into law, but if we’re not implementing or enforcing them, they have as much worth as the paper they’re written on.”
Knapp praised the district’s legacy of LGBTQ leadership, including former Representative and House Majority Leader Greg Harris.
“Greg Harris was the guy,” Knapp said. “I’d love to keep up that fight for a community that’s really grown further north of North Halsted and south of Rogers Park.”
Other priorities: housing, ICE defense, revenue and big tech
On the campaign trail, Knapp said residents frequently express frustration that institutions aren’t delivering tangible outcomes.
“People are tired of institutions,” Knapp said. “Democratic values end in an op-ed or strongly worded letter—they’re not seeing concrete improvements.”
He said improving public transit experience, including basics like seating and shelter at bus stops, could meaningfully improve access to healthcare, jobs and daily life.
Knapp also emphasized defending immigrant neighbors from ICE.
“The role of a state rep in this fight is to open as many avenues of legal recourse as possible,” Knapp said. “We can’t get them out entirely because of federalism, but the more places judges can make orders to free folks … the more we protect our communities.”
Housing and homelessness funding are central to his platform. Knapp noted homelessness has doubled or tripled since 2020 depending on the dataset.
“We need new progressive revenue options,” he said. “First and foremost, we need to pass a progressive income tax … That should be on the ballot every time until it passes.”
Knapp also raised concerns about the rise of big tech, AI data centers and automation, saying Illinois must protect data privacy, workers and creatives navigating the new economy.
“We have an opportunity now to do what Illinois did early with data protections, but that window is closing,” he said. “We need to protect gig workers, ride-share drivers, and also protect creative fields where AI poses big risks.”
He suggested his age would offer a significant advantage for his candidacy.
“I’m the youngest candidate in this race,” he said. “My whole adult political life has been in the Trump era. We can’t come in with ideas of what used to be—we have to fight how things are.”
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