U of I student Andy Ma will run against three other candidates in the 2021 Democratic primary election for the Urbana Mayor spot.  Ma will finish his degree in political science this December, and if elected, would take the Mayor seat in May of 2021.

Ma must first contend with the primary election in February, and two of the competing candidates, Dennis Roberts and Diane Marlin, are not only three times his senior, but each have served in the Urbana City government for more than a decade. 

Ma thinks that Urbana can do better:

“I do not believe the current Urbana government is doing its best to be involved and help our community.”

“I want to open up the Mayor’s office to the community”

Ma believes that seats of power should serve the community, especially those who are less fortunate.  He wants to open up the Mayor’s office and increase ease of access to public records, and said that he hopes to increase community awareness and involvement in Urbana government.

Providing shelter for the homeless and police reform are both on Ma’s to-do list.  He would like to see police removed from the schools and eventually see the police department defunded.  He stresses the inclusion of marginalized members of the community, such as sex workers, in the decision making process.

Ma supports a moratorium on utility shutoffs and evictions, and would also like to see improvements in public transportation.

You can learn more about Andy Ma and his Mayoral run on his campaign Facebook page here:
The Andy Ma for Urbana Mayor Page

 (note: Andy’s actual first name is Yinxi, but he says everyone, including his parents, call him Andy)

-Christopher Hansen, Urbana

Update: on 1/7/2021 the link to Any Ma’s campaign page was updated to point to his dedicated Facebook campaign page.