Justin Micháel Hendrix was born and raised in Champaign, and became a familiar name in the community last year. First as an activist, then because of a battle to get his name on the ballot as a candidate for Champaign City Council District 3 in the consolidated election this April. Hendrix faced challenges to some of the signatures on his ballot petition; signatures that he obtained through good faith efforts, but ultimately kept him off the ballot after the electoral board accepted just enough of lawyer Rochelle Funderburg’s challenges that he fell short of the amount needed. You can read what our editorial board had to say about this here.