Naperville women running for office featured on cover of Time Magazine

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (WLS) -- Three Naperville women, who are all running for office as part of a swell of political activism spurred by the Women's March, are featured on the cover of Time Magazine.

Lauren Underwood, Valerie Montgomery and Anne Stava-Murray are all running for elected office for the first time. The magazine calls them "The Avengers."

"I was so honored because our portion of the story really talked about that domino effect of one woman running and really encouraging other women to run," said Underwood, who is a candidate for Illinois' 14th Congressional District.

Time Magazine featured dozens of women from around the country that mobilized to run for office after participating in 2017's Women's March or, as in Underwood's case, felt strongly about saving the Affordable Care Act. The 31-year-old is the only woman and person of color in the Democratic primary for the 14th District.

"Through my campaign we've been able to meet so many volunteers, and really encourage women to run," she said.

Underwood encouraged Stava-Murray to run. The 32-year-old mother of two, who is expecting her third child, is running unopposed in the Democratic primary for state representatives in the 81st District.

"When I think about what made me say yes to that call for office, there's a lot of different important issues that we're not getting proper action on," Stava-Murray said.

Montgomery came back from last year's march determined to encourage more women to run for office in the Naperville area. She found Underwood; then the single mother of a child with autism decided to seek officer herself. She is running for state representative in the 41st District.

All three women said they couldn't do it without each other, and the support of so many other women.

"I am amazed at the women who have come to me saying, 'Hey, I'll help the campaign. I'll do flyers, I have a printing company.' We are all networking, all banding together," Montgomery said.

Montgomery is also running unopposed in her Democratic primary. She knows she will face an uphill battle against a longtime Republican incumbent in the general election.

Regardless, all three women said they will run again if this campaign is not successful.