The elections are also being seen as a barometer of President Donald Trump’s popularity.
“We wanted to lead into the midterms and encourage women to get out and vote,” Jessica Schiller, head of Women’s March Chicago.
Saturday’s events include a “Voter Village” where dozens of community groups and politicians have set up booths to reach new voters and encourage political involvement.
The Chicago rally was among the first signs of the political fallout from the deeply partisan fight to confirm Trump’s nominee Brett Kavanaugh to the nation’s highest court despite sexual assault allegations and powerful testimony against him at a Senate hearing by his accuser Christine Blasey Ford.
All but one Senate Republican voted to confirm Kavanaugh to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court. All but one Democrat voted against.
Women’s March Chicago said it was targeting the “anti-woman agenda of the White House and the Republican Party.”
Similar marches are scheduled later this month in other states, including the Republican strongholds of Texas, Georgia and South Carolina.
“It is infuriating to women to watch that display that we watched in that Senate committee hearing, and to see that that man was still confirmed,” Schiller said.
“Women are angry. And we’re starting to feel comfortable being angry.”
