“He was absolutely essential to me and a whole number of people along the way, including our present mayor,” said Tom Chiola, the first openly gay candidate to win election in Illinois.
Michael Bauer was instrumental in helping re-shape the state’s political landscape by advising and fundraising for LGBTQ candidates, creating a cadre of political leaders that includes Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
In 1994, Bauer chaired the campaign of Tom Chiola for Cook County circuit court judge. When he won, Chiola became the state’s first openly gay person elected to office.
“He was absolutely essential to me, and a whole number of people along the way, including our present mayor,” Chiola said.
State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, who received help from Bauer in her first election and considers him a family member, said he got into politics because there was a lack of attention to the needs of the gay community, particularly in light of the AIDS epidemic.
“We were burying friends constantly because there wasn’t the infrastructure, there wasn’t research being done, nor were there direct service health care providers willing to be there for these patients,” Cassidy said.
Bauer used his considerable network of friends, inside and outside of the LGBTQ community, to raise money for candidates.
“You don’t just get Michael’s support, you get all of Michael and he becomes part of your life, and that’s not the way it always works,” Cassidy said, noting that he wasn’t a softy.
“He’d sit down with candidates and ask ‘What’s your campaign plan? How many votes do you need to win? How are you going to get there?’” Cassidy recalled.
Bauer died Thursday at his Lincoln Park home after a recurrence of melanoma, a form of skin cancer. He was 66.
His support and friendship extended to many figures on the national political stage as well.
He was close with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In addition to championing causes in the LGBTQ community, Bauer, whose parents survived the Holocaust, was a major backer of organizations that promoted a strong United States-Israel relations.
An attorney and former Bell and Howell executive, Bauer later owned the court reporting agency Espiritu & Associates.
“And he was just a fun guy, he sucked every ounce of fun out of every single day he could,” Cassidy said.
“He and his husband used to send out the most outrageously wonderful Christmas cards,” Cassidy said. “They were usually shirtless because they were both gym guys back in the day, and whether they were in grass skirts and coconut bras or on the shoulders of musclemen on Venice Beach, they were always something people waited for in the mail each season.”
Bauer is survived by his husband, Roger Simon, and his mother, Tema Bauer, who is 103.
Funeral services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday at Anshe Emet Synagogue, 3751 N. Broadway.
