Editing Harold Washington (section)

===Illinois Senate (1976–1980)===
====Campaign for a seat on the Illinois Senate====
In 1975, Partee, now [[President of the Illinois Senate|President of the Senate]] and eligible for his pension, decided to retire from the Senate. Although Daley and Taylor declined at first, at Partee's insistence, Washington was ultimately slated for the seat and he received the party's support.<ref name="levinsohn_121-122">Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 121–122.</ref> Daley had been displeased with Washington for having run a symbolic challenge in 1975 to Daley-backed [[Clyde Choate]] for Illinois Speaker of the House (Washington had only received two votes).<ref name="levinsohn_121-122"/> Additionally, he had ultimately helped push the vote towards Redmond as a compromise candidate.<ref name="levinsohn_a"/> The [[United Automobile Workers]] union, whose backing Washington obtained, were critical in persuading Daley to relent to back his candidacy.<ref name="levinsohn_a"/>

Washington defeated [[Anna Langford]] by nearly 2,000 votes in the Democratic primary.<ref name="levinsohn_a">Hamlish Levinsohn (1983)</ref> He went on to win the general election.

====Human Rights Act of 1980====
In the [[Illinois Senate]], Washington's main focus worked to pass 1980's Illinois Human Rights Act. Legislators rewrote all of the human rights laws in the state, restricting discrimination based on "race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, military status, sexual orientation, or unfavorable discharge from military service in connection with employment, real estate transactions, access to financial credit, and the availability of public accommodations."<ref name='ilcs'>{{cite web |url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs5.asp?ActID=2266&ChapAct=775%26nbsp%3BILCS%26nbsp%3B5%2F&ChapterID=64&ChapterName=HUMAN+RIGHTS&ActName=Illinois+Human+Rights+Act. |year=1970 |access-date=April 21, 2008 |author=Illinois General Assembly |title=(775 ILCS 5/) Illinois Human Rights Act.}}</ref> The bill's origins began in 1970 with the rewriting of the [[Illinois Constitution]]. The new constitution required all governmental agencies and departments to be reorganized for efficiency. Republican governor [[James R. Thompson]] reorganized low-profile departments before his re-election in 1978. In 1979, during the early stages of his second term and immediately in the aftermath of the largest vote for a gubernatorial candidate in the state's history, Thompson called for human rights reorganization.<ref name="levinsohn_130-131">Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 130–131.</ref> The bill would consolidate and remove some agencies, eliminating a number of political jobs. Some Democratic legislators would oppose any measure backed by Washington, Thompson and Republican legislators.

For many years, human rights had been a campaign issue brought up and backed by Democrats. Thompson's staffers brought the bill to Washington and other black legislators before it was presented to the legislature. Washington made adjustments in anticipation of some legislators' concerns regarding the bill, before speaking for it in April 1979. On May 24, 1979, the bill passed the Senate by a vote of 59 to 1, with two voting present and six absent. The victory in the Senate was attributed by a Thompson staffer to Washington's "calm noncombative presentation".<ref name="levinsohn_132-134">Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 132–134.</ref> However, the bill stalled in the House. State Representative [[Susan Catania]] insisted on attaching an amendment to allow women guarantees in the use of credit cards. This effort was assisted by [[Carol Moseley Braun]], a representative from [[Hyde Park, Chicago|Hyde Park]] who would later go on to serve as a U.S. Senator. State Representatives Jim Taylor and Larry Bullock introduced over one hundred amendments, including the text of the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, to try to stall the bill. With Catania's amendment, the bill passed the House, but the Senate refused to accept the amendment. On June 30, 1979, the legislature adjourned.<ref name="levinsohn_132-134" />