The Raise Illinois coalition launched a series of press events across the state on Tuesday to call on lawmakers to immediately pass legislation during this year’s veto session to raise the minimum wage for working families. Raise Illinois said voters delivered an overwhelming mandate during this election with 67 percent in support for increasing the minimum wage by January 1st, 2015 and that the state legislature must deliver real results for working families in Illinois.

Support for the $10 minimum wage was truly bipartisan, with the minimum wage ballot question passing in almost all legislative districts, including most Republican legislative districts. The Raise Illinois ballot referendum passed with 65 percent support in the populous Republican-leaning suburban counties of DuPage, Lake and Will; it also passed by wide margins in places like rural Wabash County, which voted 73 percent for Bruce Rauner. Raise Illinois showcased a map that demonstrated just how deep the support for the minimum wage issue was in this election where 83 of the state’s 102 counties approved the measure.

In Chicago, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle stood with Michael Carrigan, President of the Illinois AFL-CIO, and state lawmakers and community advocates at the Shriver Center to urge the legislature not to delay in lifting the minimum wage for low-income families. At the Unitarian Universalist Church in Rockford, Claire McIntyre from the League of Women Voters spoke at a press event and said, “We have a historic opportunity to vote to raise the minimum wage for working families which will benefit our communities, small businesses, and our local economy.”