Eric Sorensen

Eric Sorensen was born in Rockford, Illinois. Sorensen earned a bachelor's degree from Northern Illinois University in 1999 and worked as a meteorologist.[1] He served on the boards of Clock, Inc. and the Project of the Quad Cities.[2][3]

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Growing up, I was terrified of storms. But my local weatherman, “TV Eric,” explained what was happening, and helped me feel safe during them. From a young age I knew that I wanted to be “TV Eric,'' and at age 27 that dream came true when I became the Chief Meteorologist at WREX in Rockford.

For two decades, I was your weatherman. I spent 22 years keeping you safe by telling the truth, informing, and educating our communities daily. Because telling you how the weather impacted your jobs, schools, weekends, and yes, sometimes your lives, I earned your trust through thousands of broadcasts bringing you the daily weather and important updates about “once in a century” storms.

To me, being a meteorologist has always been about protecting our neighbors and our communities, values I learned from my family at an early age.

Today I live in Moline with my partner Shawn and our two dogs Oliver and Petey. We enjoy bike riding, kayaking, and exploring good food in the Quad Cities and surrounding areas.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I was a TV news meteorologist for 22 years, earning community trust and keeping people safe by telling the truth. We need more trust between Congress and the people, and I'll work to rebuild trust by looking out for people just like when I was the local weatherman.I dedicated my career to discovering the truth and keeping people accurately informed. The pandemic, vaccine disinformation, and ongoing climate crises show that it's more important than ever to elect scientists to Congress. We need more science leadership to keep people informed, not political partisanship.In Congress, I will continue to stand up for vulnerable communities, and I will fight to protect the rights of all people against discrimination

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Climate change:

Early in his career, Eric started discussing climate change with his viewers when it was not a popular thing to do. To him, it isn’t political; his job as a meteorologist is to speak the truth. In Central and Northwest Illinois, we know that climate change is real -- whether it was the 2021 summer drought or, the August 2020 derecho with 100 miles per hour winds, or the record-high Mississippi River flood of 2019. And as the water was rising, it was people coming together from all walks of life to fill sandbags that protected our small businesses.

There is not a single climate communicator in Congress who matches the communication and climate science backgrounds of Eric.

Strengthening health care:

Eric believes that everyone should have access to quality and affordable health care.

Eric supports protecting and improving the Affordable Care Act to ensure health care coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. He supports allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices to lower costs and the creation of a public option to expand access to coverage.

Health care is an equity issue for Eric. Students can’t focus in school and people can’t focus on making a living when they don’t feel well, either physically or mentally. We need to be setting people up for success, and quality, affordable health care is essential to providing opportunity for all.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I believe that my decades of experience as a communicator will make me a successful U.S. Representative. My entire professional career as a meteorologist has been about communicating. Taking complex, science-heavy topics like weather and climate, I distilled information to understandable, succinct reports that positively impacted people’s lives. Not to mention I made it fun. But I also took controversial and complicated topics like climate change and articulated that across the partisan divide.

I hear from voters how disconnected they are from Washington. I hope to be the communicator that serves as the bridge between Congress and Northwest/Central Illinois.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Ultimately, I believe the core responsibility for all elected officials is to represent the interests of their constituents. It’s important for our Representatives to listen, ask questions, and seek to understand the challenges facing their constituents.

I also believe a core responsibility for Representatives is to help connect the solutions coming from Washington back to our home district. There are countless programs and opportunities being funded and implemented by Congress. I hope to connect the people of IL-17 to those solutions so that they can access them.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in January 1986 when I was ten years old. I watched it live in my classroom and it strengthened my interest in science and the reporting of news.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

There’s a new song out this year called “Weatherman”. Some of my meteorologist friends were sending it around as a joke, but I love it!

What do you perceive to be the United States' greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

I believe that one of the greatest challenges the United States (and the world) over the next decade pertains to how we address climate change. We know that climate change is real, and requires action now. It’s time to start seriously investing in decarbonization efforts. As a climate communicator, I’ve spent the past two decades communicating the science of climate change and how it’s affecting our communities. From the rising price of groceries to out-of-season tornadoes, stronger and longer droughts, record flooding, and derechos – here in Northwest and Central Illinois, we are already feeling the impact of climate change.

When we talk about addressing climate change, we’re talking about investing in the green economy of the future, the green infrastructure that’s going to transform our society. As we invest in EVs (electric vehicles) and renewable energy, there will be an opportunity for good-paying, union jobs, and we should encourage those jobs to remain right here in the United States (in particular, Northwest and Central Illinois).

We must also recognize that we are going to need to make sure that those solutions are affordable and accessible to all people.

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

I met a voter while grocery shopping at Jewel-Osco in Moline who told me how much she missed seeing me on Channel 8. “You really had a knack of explaining how things worked.’”

For the next few minutes, she talked about how Washington seems so far away from the everyday life of a Moliner. That there seems to be more problems than solutions these days. As we wrapped up and she was about to push her cart away, she said “I just can’t wait until you’re in Congress and you can explain to us how everything works.” I stood there for a minute, thinking about what she said. What did “explain how things work” mean?

Honestly, it isn’t something I thought about much before that moment. But it’s something I’ve been thinking about constantly since. The people we elect to represent us need to show us their work. Less of the “trust me” and more of the “let me show you.”

When elected to Congress, I'll be able to do just that - explain the inner workings and demystify the legislative process for the people of IL-17. And it’s what I’ve been doing for the past 20 years in our community: explaining the weather in a way that made sense for our viewers, and then communicating that information to keep our families safe.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

I do believe that compromise is necessary for policy making. Any piece of legislation passing through the House is going to need 218 Representatives supporting it. That’s 218 perspectives, experiences, and opinions. It’s great if all 218 can agree on the exact same piece of legislation, but realistically there’s going to need to be compromises to get legislation across the finish line.

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