If Zoey Carter wins her bid to represent her central Illinois district, she would become the first openly trans woman elected to the state legislature.

Carter, a longtime retail and manufacturing worker from Pekin, is seeking the Illinois House seat for the 93rd District, challenging Republican incumbent Travis Weaver in the general election in a race spanning parts of central Illinois.

Her campaign has faced early hurdles. Carter was removed from the Democratic primary ballot after a petition challenge over filing paperwork and the validity of nominating signatures—a decision she said she disagrees with but respects, according to the Kewanee Voice. Carter plans to continue campaigning with the goal of appearing on the November general election ballot.

The setback reshaped the race but did not change the focus of Carter’s campaign, which centers on economic survival, infrastructure and representation for communities she believes have been overlooked by the state government.

Carter said her decision to run grew out of a moment at work when a customer could not afford basic groceries for her children, an experience that pushed her to think about policy solutions beyond the local level.

“I was looking toward her, and I looked back to the register a few times and I was just like, ‘this isn’t right,’” said Carter, who ultimately paid for the woman’s groceries. “Someone’s got to do something about this.”

An eighth-generation Pekin resident and the first person in her family to graduate high school, Carter has spent most of her career in retail and manufacturing, which she said allows her to speak directly to working-class voters navigating rising costs and limited services in central Illinois.

Carter describes the district as a place where families want to stay and build their lives but face structural barriers, from long drives for medical care to the disappearance of basic infrastructure like grocery stores.

Running on access and economic survival

Carter repeatedly framed the district’s biggest issue in a single word: access.

In towns across the 93rd District, residents may travel dozens of miles for groceries, health care or reliable internet, which are gaps that she said contribute to population loss and economic decline.

Carter said communities that once had multiple grocery stores are now left with none, forcing residents to relocate or rely on long commutes for basic needs.

Carter’s policy priorities include incentivizing small-town grocery development, expanding rural health care options, improving broadband infrastructure and ensuring transportation and utility systems support residents who live far from population centers.

She also emphasized bridging partisan divides, noting that voters across political lines share concerns about costs, wages and local economic stability.

“I want to see families not just survive, but be able to thrive,” Carter said.

LGBTQ+ advocacy shaped by rural experience

While carter does not center LGBTQ+ issues in her campaign messaging, her background in rural queer organizing informs how she views policy gaps.

Carter’s activism began in 20-23 after attending a protest in Peoria, an experience that led her to found the Rural Equality Project, work with local LGBTQ+ organizations and launch the Pekin Pride festival.

Those efforts focused on building community infrastructure in areas where LGBTQ+ residents may have fewer visible resources.

Carter said many challenges facing LGBTQ+ Illinoisans mirror those affecting rural residents more broadly, such as access to care.

Carter described driving an hour for gender-affirming care and noted that many other queer people lack transportation, stable housing or insurance coverage needed to navigate the system.

“All issues are LGBTQ+ issues—affordability, housing, health care,” Carter said.

Carter also criticized hospitals scaling back gender-affirming care for trans youth and said the state should explore funding or policy solutions to maintain services, arguing that health care systems have an obligation to serve all patients.

As a candidate in a Republican-leaning district, Carter said her path to victory depends on emphasizing shared material concerns rather than identity.

Carter views her candidacy as an extension of her life in the community rather than a symbolic milestone—even if it could carry historic implications.

“My approach to this is not that I’m running on being trans,” Carter said. “I’m running on being a small-town person who wants to help out my community.”