Fighting from the Super Minority: Illinois Rep. John Cabello at the ALEC Annual Meeting

For Illinois Assistant Minority Leader John Cabello, serving in Springfield means standing tall even when the odds are stacked against him. As a Republican in one of the deepest blue states in America, he sits in what he calls the “super minority.”

“We still fight like hell, and that’s what we have to do,” Cabello said at ALEC’s 52nd Annual Meeting in Indianapolis. “People tell us we can’t do anything, but we fight, we fight, we fight. The job of the minority is to hold the majority accountable.”

Cabello has seen Illinois politics from the minority bench for more than a decade. Without control of the map-drawing process, his party has never held more than 47 out of 118 seats since he entered the legislature in 2012. Despite the numbers, he believes persistence pays off — especially when the grassroots rise up.

He pointed to a recent attempt to impose new restrictions on homeschooling.

“The homeschool community came, and actually, we had the most people in history at the State House,” Cabello said. “It finally got the bill to stop.”

Even in a super minority, organized citizens made their voices impossible to ignore. That’s why when he doesn’t have the votes to block bad policy in Springfield, he has learned to call on the people most affected to show up and fight.

“We need help, because we don’t have the numbers. So we rely on the folks it’s going to impact the most.”

That conviction comes from his background in law enforcement.

“Being a policeman is a lifestyle. You don’t give up. You do the best you can for the community you serve,” he explained. “I saw my taxes going up and up, and they couldn’t give me good roads or good schools. So instead of complaining on the sidelines, I decided to jump in the game to try to change it.”

But for Cabello, the fight is about more than political gamesmanship. It’s about accountability to taxpayers.

“We owe it to the people that pay for everything,” he said. “They’re making it by the slimmest margin right now, and they pay my salary. I can sacrifice some time to go down there and beat my head against the wall trying to change things.”

Looking ahead to the next elections, Cabello is realistic about the challenge. Outspent 20 to 1 in some races, his party faces steep odds in Illinois. But he doesn’t allow the odds to discourage him.

“You can’t lose your fight. You’ve got to have that fire in your belly,” Cabello said. “You’ve got to stand up and fight for the people that pay the bills.”

For John Cabello, that determination is what keeps him pushing forward, even in the toughest political terrain.