RICKETTS
Laura

• 1. Political involvement

Laura Marie Ricketts is an American political activist and former attorney who is co-owner of the Chicago Cubs. Ricketts is also a board member of Lambda Legal and the Housing Opportunities for Women organization. Ricketts' ownership stake in the Cubs makes her the first openly gay owner of a major-league sports franchise.

Political involvement

Ricketts is a Democrat, unlike her parents and her siblings (who are all notable Republicans). Ricketts is liberal and an LGBTQ activist. Ricketts founded and served as the chairwoman of LPAC, an LGBTQ Super PAC.

Ricketts was a top bundler for Barack Obama's re-election campaign during the 2012 presidential election.

Ricketts was also a supporter of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign in the Democratic primaries and the general election. In announcing LPAC's April 2015 endorsement of Clinton, Ricketts said, "We are proud to endorse Hillary Clinton as she begins her run for the White House. Hillary is an unyielding advocate for LGBTQ women. Our endorsement today represents LPAC’s strong support of her candidacy."

Ricketts was a top bundler for the Clinton campaign. Clinton herself personally attended a campaign fundraiser that Laura and her wife Brooke hosted at their Wilmette home in July 2016.

In addition to supporting Clinton as a donor and fundraiser, Ricketts supported several Democrats running for other offices in the 2016 elections. Ricketts gave personal donations that year to Jan Schakowsky's congressional re-election campaign, Tammy Duckworth's senate campaign, Maggie Hassan's senate campaign, and Russ Feingold's senate campaign. Ricketts also donated to the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee benefiting both state parties and the Clinton campaign.

Ricketts served as an Illinois superdelegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

Rickets served as a co-chair of the campaign finance committee of Jesse Ruiz's campaign for the Democratic nomination in the 2018 Illinois attorney general election.

During Chicago's 2019 mayoral election, Ricketts endorsed and became a co-chair of Susana Mendoza's campaign in the first round. After Mendoza was eliminated, Ricketts backed Lori Lightfoot in the election's runoff. She is supporting Lightfoot in the 2023 Chicago mayoral election, with Ricketts and her wife both having been named in April 2022 to serve as a finance co-chair of Lightfoot's reelection campaign.

Ricketts supported Joe Biden during the 2020 United States presidential election. After his victory, she donated $250,000 to the inaugural committee planning the Biden's inauguration.