Research & Sources:
Citizen Action/Illinois, Krystle Able and the 2026 McLean County Endorsements
Reference document with clickable source links
Purpose of This Research
Citizen Action/Illinois has endorsed 11 Democratic candidates for McLean County offices in the 2026 election. This page provides background on the organization making those endorsements, its policy positions, its historical connections to the democratic-socialist movement, and the additional support some of these candidates have received from former Bloomington-Normal Democratic Socialists of America leader Krystle Able.
An endorsement does not prove that a candidate agrees with every policy of the endorsing organization. Likewise, our research has not established that any of these 11 candidates is currently a member of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The purpose here is to document the political organizations and individuals supporting these candidates so voters can evaluate those relationships for themselves.
Citizen Action/Illinois Endorsed McLean County Slate
Citizen Action/Illinois identifies itself as a statewide progressive political and policy coalition. Its published 2026 endorsement list includes the following McLean County candidates:
· Dennis Killian — County Board District 1
· Raul Martinez — County Board District 2
· Rick Perez Jr. — County Board District 3
· William Bessler — County Board District 4
· Buck Farley — County Board District 5
· Beverly Bell — County Board District 6
· John Poling — County Board District 7
· Lea Cline — County Board District 8
· Jennifer Brown — County Board District 9
· Corey Beirne — County Board District 10
· Joshua Crockett — McLean County Clerk
Citizen Action says the candidates it endorses share many of its values, including affordable health care, good jobs and what it calls a fair economy.
Citizen Action/Illinois — 2026 Endorsements
What Is Citizen Action/Illinois?
Citizen Action does not describe itself as politically neutral. It identifies itself as a statewide progressive policy and political coalition and says its mission is creating democratic social change. It further states that achieving social justice requires political power and that the organization exists to help create that power.
Citizen Action's Policy Council reviews policy proposals, provides strategic input on political campaigns, shapes long-term organizational goals and helps determine candidate endorsements. Its organizational members include major labor unions and progressive advocacy organizations.
Citizen Action/Illinois — Who We Are
Citizen Action/Illinois — Policy Council
What Policies Does Citizen Action Advocate?
Citizen Action openly describes its work as advancing a progressive agenda. Its major policy areas include economic justice, health care, public education, environmental policy, democracy and social justice.
Its stated positions include reducing income and wealth inequality, strengthening unions and collective bargaining, expanding government involvement in health care including universal public health care, paid family and medical leave, prescription-drug affordability regulation, and progressive social-policy priorities.
Citizen Action/Illinois — Issues
Citizen Action/Illinois — 2026 Legislative Agenda
Citizen Action/Illinois — 2026 Legislative Scorecard
Citizen Action's Historical DSA/Socialist Connections
Our broader research found longstanding connections between Citizen Action's predecessor organizations and activists associated with the democratic-socialist movement. Citizen Action grew from Illinois Public Action/IPAC. Historical records show cooperation involving activists associated with the New American Movement and Democratic Socialists of America, and DSA-associated individuals participated in Illinois Public Action and the broader Citizen Action political network.
An important limitation remains: DSA is not currently listed among Citizen Action/Illinois' organizational affiliates, and our research has not established that DSA controls Citizen Action/Illinois. The evidence supports describing Citizen Action as an explicitly progressive organization with significant historical connections to people and organizations within Illinois' democratic-socialist political network, not as a formal DSA chapter.
DSA Archive — Democratic Left historical publications
NYU Tamiment Library — Democratic Socialists of America Records
The Krystle Able Connection
Krystle Able provides a more direct local connection to the democratic-socialist movement. Able has stated publicly that she was involved in leadership of the former Bloomington-Normal DSA chapter. In discussing her political history, she referred to the political reaction to the prospect of a democratic socialist serving on the County Board and credited DSA with teaching her organizing, direct action, political education and labor-community coalition building.
Able later served on the McLean County Board and now serves as Normal Township Supervisor. She has also said she intends to continue supporting candidates she believes will bring political change and progress through Fight Forward Normal, specifically discussing that work in connection with 2026 and beyond.
Krystle Able statement on organizing and 2026
Krystle Able — professional profile
Normal Township — Elected Officials
Able's Support of Current Candidates
Our review found different levels of evidence connecting Able to members of Citizen Action's 2026 McLean County slate. The strongest direct 2026 support identified to date involves William Bessler and Joshua Crockett. Able publicly encouraged voters to support Bessler and promoted his campaign donation link. She has likewise promoted Crockett's candidacy and explicitly encouraged voters to elect him County Clerk.
We also found documented previous electoral or campaign support involving Raul Martinez and Beverly Bell, as well as political relationships or promotion involving several other members of the Citizen Action-endorsed slate. These relationships vary in strength, and political association should not be presented as equivalent to a direct 2026 endorsement.
Krystle Able Facebook — William Bessler support
Krystle Able Facebook — Joshua Crockett campaign promotion
WGLT — William Bessler succeeds Able on County Board
Organized Labor Endorsed the Same 11 Candidates
In July 2026, the Bloomington & Normal Trades & Labor Assembly and Livingston & McLean Counties Building & Construction Trades Council conducted a local candidate forum. Afterward, labor delegates endorsed all 10 Democratic McLean County Board candidates and Joshua Crockett for County Clerk — the same 11 local candidates endorsed by Citizen Action/Illinois.
The labor organization said incumbent voting records and support for labor-friendly measures influenced its decisions. It also noted that most candidates from both parties responded favorably to its principal labor questions, an important qualification when interpreting the endorsements.
Bloomington-Normal Labor — 2026 Local Endorsements
What the Evidence Establishes
· Citizen Action/Illinois explicitly identifies itself as a progressive political and policy coalition.
· Citizen Action has endorsed all 11 McLean County candidates examined in this research.
· Citizen Action's policy agenda includes priorities that substantially overlap with contemporary social-democratic and democratic-socialist policy positions.
· Citizen Action's organizational history includes documented connections with activists and organizations in the democratic-socialist movement.
· Krystle Able has publicly described her leadership involvement in the former Bloomington-Normal DSA chapter and her democratic-socialist political background.
· Able has provided direct 2026 electoral support to William Bessler and Joshua Crockett, with prior campaign support or political relationships involving several other candidates.
· Organized labor independently endorsed the same 11 Citizen Action-supported McLean County candidates.
These documented relationships are facts voters can weigh alongside each candidate's own public statements, voting record and policy positions.
Primary Reference Sources
Citizen Action/Illinois — 2026 Endorsements
Citizen Action/Illinois — Who We Are
Citizen Action/Illinois — Policy Council
Citizen Action/Illinois — 2026 Legislative Agenda
Citizen Action/Illinois — 2026 Legislative Scorecard
Bloomington-Normal Labor — 2026 Endorsements
Krystle Able — organizing and 2026 statement
Krystle Able — professional profile
Normal Township — Elected Officials
Research standard: Where possible, this review relies on organizations' own websites, government records, candidate materials, established local reporting, and historical archival sources. Historical claims involving DSA should be evaluated using original DSA/NAM archival material whenever available rather than relying solely on partisan secondary sources.