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Robert Emmons Jr. (born October 10, 1992) is an American politician and social activist from Chicago, IL. He currently a Democratic candidate running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the First Congressional District of Illinois. The seat is currently held by Bobby Rush.

Early Life
Robert was born in Atlantic City, NJ on October 10th, 1992 to Robert and Michelda Emmons. He was raised in Mays Landing where we William Davies Middle School and Oakcrest Public High School. Following his freshman year, Robert move in with his grandparents in the Auburn Greshman neighborhood of Chicago’s South Side. He enrolled at Perspectives Charter School for his sophomore, junior and senior years, graduating in the Spring of 2011.

Robert attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he majored in Political Science. Following the death of his best friend and former college roommate, who was shot and killed in Chicago, Robert took a leave of absence from the University of Illinois. He returned in 2016 and completed his degree with the class of 2017.

Early Career
Robert began his career at The Scion Group, a property management company that took him from Urbana, IL to Milwaukee, WI and then Columbia, SC. He states that this occupation “taught me the value of community over property,” and that prospective tenants were often more interested in renting a unit if he sold them on the community of the housing complex.

After graduation, Robert landed a position at OneGoal, a non-profit organization which promotes college access and persistent student support. He followed this opportunity with a consultancy position with the Barack Obama Foundation and a Young Diplomat title with the Global Diplomatic Forum.

Soon after these opportunities Robert found his first true political position doing advocacy and lobbying work for Illinois Senator Richard Durban. Robert helped push policies which pertained to an increase in minimum wage,

2020 Congressional Election
On March 1, 2019 Robert publicly announced a run for Congress in the First Congressional District of Illinois via a cell phone video uploaded to his Facebook page. According to a press release put out by the campaign later that day:

Robert’s campaign will focus on his proximity to the First District and a commitment to bolstering its pre-existing community resources; primarily those which look to address gun violence at its root causes.