Catherine “Cat” Sharp is community organizer and experienced public servant running to serve the 12th District of Cook County. Cat has spent her career pushing to make government work for the people it serves, assisting thousands of neighbors in navigating property tax challenges, accessing essential health care, and fighting for justice through the courts. And she’s never been afraid to take on a big fight–even when her fellow Democrats are complacent or scared to wade into a tough problem or take on entrenched special interests. 

As 40th Ward Chief of Staff, Cat leads a team of seven to deliver City services for nearly 60,000 Chicagoans. With our communities under direct assault from the Trump administration, Cat Sharp has what it takes to defend Cook County families. With a proven track record of getting things done at the City and County, Cat is the fighter we need to stand up for us. 

Cat has helped deliver tens of millions of dollars of investments in the 40th Ward for public safety, school, infrastructure, park, and small business improvement projects. 

As the 40th Ward’s public safety liaison, Cat worked with law enforcement and crime victims to ensure safer communities and real-time support and justice for survivors. Cat has been a fierce and effective advocate for a more just system to protect domestic and gender-based violence survivors. When a Cook County judge was consistently putting domestic violence survivors in even more danger, Cat helped lead the fight to have him removed–and won. 

As Director of Outreach for Cook County Commissioner Bridget Degnen, Cat assisted constituents in filing property tax appeals and applying for exemptions, saving or getting back thousands of dollars for some residents struggling in the face of the housing affordability crisis. Cat saw how our rigged property tax system favors the very wealthy and big corporations–while forcing homeowners, renters, and small business people to pay more. As Commissioner, she’ll fight for the reform we need. 

When Donald Trump sent ICE/CBP agents to our community to terrorize immigrants, Cat jumped into action, organizing more than 1000 neighbors to get trained and activated into their local Rapid Response Teams to defend our people and stop them from separating families. The Trump Department of Justice has even brought ridiculous charges against Cat for participating in protesting Trump’s inhumane treatment of immigrants at the ICE facility in Broadview. In that legal fight, Cat has shown she is the clear-eyed, principled leader we need to stand up for our communities.

And as an organizer on progressive Democratic campaigns, Cat helped mobilize voters for Gov. JB Pritzker, State Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, and other champions for working people. A volunteer canoe guide with Friends of the Chicago River, and a leader with Chicago Conservation Corps, Cat is passionate about protecting our environment from big polluters. Cat is a lifelong Chicagoan and lives in Lincoln Square with her husband, Gabe Arcaro.