How to Meet with Your Elected Official

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

Asking to Meet Personally With Your Elected Official

Elected officials get lots of email and calls. Taking time for a personal meeting shows commitment and makes an impression. From then on, when your elected official thinks about this issue, they will probably remember you. They will at least know that voters in their district care and are paying attention.

Here is what to do:

If you can think of anyone else from your area who might want to join you, invite them and find out their availability. Having more than one person in the meeting can make an even better impression.
Look up or confirm contact information for your state lawmaker.
1. Go to https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials/
2. Enter your residential address and click “Find my elected officials.”
3. In the gray bar for state officials, click the + sign at the right.
4. Toward the bottom of the blue list of state elected officials, you will find your State Senator and State Representative.
5. Click the + sign next to their names.
6. Click the “Website” link for contact details.
7. Use the contact information for the district office.
Call or email to request the meeting. Say that you are a constituent and where you are from. Say you would like to meet about better passenger train service for Illinois. If others might be joining, mention the approximate number of people who might be interested. If you have to leave a voicemail, include the details above but keep it brief, with your contact information.
If a meeting with a staffer is offered instead, that can be OK. Staff play an important role and deserve respect, so be polite and engage with them too.
Review the suggested TALKING POINTS TBD. It’s not a script, just suggestions.
If you can, print a copy of DOCUMENT TBD, to leave behind with your elected official at the end of your meeting.
You don’t need to dress formally. Just try to make a good impression.
During or right after the meeting, write down a few notes about how it went and what they said. Are they supportive? What did they ask about? Did they ask questions you couldn’t answer? Did they want more information about something?
Let us know how it went! Share your notes and impressions with the High Speed Rail Alliance. Email [email protected].