Delia Ramirez

Delia Ramirez was born in Chicago, Illinois.[1] She earned her bachelor's degree in justice studies from Northeastern Illinois University. Her career experience includes working as a social services administrator, a community organizer, and a policy advocate.[2] Ramirez co-founded Justice for Our Neighbors (JFON), and has served as the executive director of Center for Changing Lives and the board chair of the Latin United Community Housing Association (LUCHA) and Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA).[1][2][3]

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

The daughter of working-class Guatemalan immigrants, Delia Ramirez is an accomplished legislator, social service director, community leader, and coalition builder who has dedicated her life and career advocating for working families.

These experiences ignited a fire that propelled her to fight for the rights of all working families struggling to survive, whether it be housing justice, fully funding public schools, women’s reproductive rights, or Medicare for all. She spent the next 18 years as a non-profit leader at the Center for Changing Lives, Common Cause and Community Renewal Society, and board chair for both the Latin United Community Housing Association (LUCHA) and Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA), fighting for affordable housing, quality education and campaign finance reform.

In 2018, her community drafted Delia to run for State Representative of the 4th House District of Illinois. Since elected, she has successfully passed legislation expanding Medicaid coverage to senior citizens regardless of immigration status, securing over 450 million to build affordable housing, protecting abortion rights, and creating an elected school board in the City of Chicago.

She is the co-founder of the Illinois House Progressive Caucus and now serves as Assistant Majority Leader.

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?

As State Representative, Delia helped lead the fight for the Reproductive Health Act, which enshrined the right to abortion access in Illinois - even if Roe v. Wade is overturned.Delia passed a law that extends Medicaid to all low-income people over the age of 42, making Illinois the first state in the nation to grant healthcare access to seniors regardless of immigration status. She will fight to expand healthcare access and pass Medicare for All in Congress.Her campaign is people-funded, people-centered, and supported by grassroots leaders and progressive elected officials. She is refusing to accept corporate PAC contributions because Delia is and always will be accountable to the voters, not special interests.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Affordable Housing - Delia grew up volunteering at her church’s homeless shelter and became the Director of a homeless services agency at 21 years old. She believes that everyone deserves a safe, accessible, and affordable place to call home. She understands that housing and housing stability are tied to economic development, safety, and public health. She has been a supporter of developing affordable housing and has worked extensively to extend protections to those at risk of losing their homes, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Health Care - Delia believes our healthcare system should exist to save lives and address people’s needs, and not to deliver massive profits to pharmaceutical companies. Delia has led in the fight to make sure every Illinoian has access to healthcare including championing historic expansions of Medicaid and co-sponsoring laws to reduce racial disparities in our healthcare system.

Safety Net & Care Economy - ​​As a former social services administrator, Delia knows that a strong safety net and care economy are critical for working families to thrive. Programs like Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, Unemployment Insurance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and Earned Income Tax Credit must be protected and expanded. Delia will champion new investments into our care economy including universal childcare and pre-K, paid sick leave, long-term care, expanding public housing, and universal basic income as a pathway to ending poverty.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

My mother Maria is a first generation Guatemalan immigrant and is my greatest inspiration. At a young age, she crossed the border carrying me in her womb. She then spent the next four decades working minimum wage jobs to provide for our family. Through it all she thought me core values of service, community, justice, and accountability. It is these values and her steady example that led me to dedicate my life to public service.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Elected officials should be accountable to the communities they represent and not beholden to special interests or corporations. They should be deeply rooted in the communities they serve and knowledgable of the issues that most directly impact everyday people. Elected officials are public servants who should be accessible to their constituents and responsive to community needs and concerns.

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

I am a lifelong resident of Chicago’s northwest side with extensive community, policy advocacy, and legislative experience tackling the issues that most directly impact our communities. I have a deep and practical understanding of complex issues like housing, education, safety, and economic security. In 3 years serving in the State Legislature, I have successfully passed landmark legislation around affordable housing, education, and healthcare expansion including several bills passed with strong bipartisan support.

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

Congress’ primary job is to legislate the laws of the United States. As a current state legislator and Assistant Majority Leader, I have extensive experience legislating at the state level and I’m ready to be an effective legislator in Congress.

What legacy would you like to leave?

Someday when my time in public service has concluded, I would like to be remembered as someone whose work improved the lives of people in tangible and meaningful ways. We have a long list of needs in our communities and it is our responsibility as public servants to continue to move the needle improving the lives of people. In our lifetime we can expand healthcare access to all, make public education more equitable, protect reproductive and civil rights, prevent a climate catastrophy, and end homelessness. These are the policy goals I am committed to and the kind of legacy I would want to leave behind when my time as a public official is done.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Delia’s first job was working in the mailroom at her community church, helping receive and distribute mail for homeless neighbors who relied on the church to receive mail. After working in the mailroom, she kept working in her church and its nonprofit, eventually becoming the Executive Director for Center for Changing Lives.

Campaign website

Ramirez's campaign website stated the following:

LGBTQ+ RIGHTS

ROOTED

Delia’s values are deeply rooted in inclusiveness, equity, and justice and that is why she is a firm proponent of LGBTQ+ rights and protections. To fully live into being the “land of the free” all people must be able to live free from discrimination and harassment because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We must enact policies that create protections so that all LGBTQ+ people can fully participate in all aspects of society free from discrimination.

READY

As Congresswoman Delia will be an ally and champion for the LGBTQ+ community. She will support and fight for the Equality Act to fully guarantee nondiscrimination protections for the LGBTQ+ community throughout the United States including in housing, employment, education, and federally funded programs. She will support the Every Child Deserves a Family Act to end discrimination against LGBTQ+ families in the child welfare system. As a lifelong housing advocate, she will champion the Fair and Equal Housing Act to add “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” as protected classes under the federal Fair Housing Act.

RESULTS

Co-sponsored the Inclusive Curriculum Act to ensure that LGBTQ+ history will be taught in Illinois public schools.

Supported legislation that designates most single usage restrooms in public spaces as gender-neutral

Co-sponsored the Birth Certificate Assertation law which allows individuals to self-assert a correct gender in a birth certificate change

Co-sponsored the Disrupting Disparities for LGBTQ Older Adults law that creates a three-year Commission on LGBTQ Aging, establishes an LGBTQ Older Adult Advocate, and requires state-funded providers to complete LGBTQ older adult awareness and competency training

ETHICS & GOOD GOVERNMENT

ROOTED

Good government and ethics have been central to Delia’s work as a public servant. During her time as Campaign Manager at Common Cause IL, she worked on getting big money out of politics because she understands the outsized influence that special interests and corporations have on government. Our democracy is under attack not just by the violent insurrectionists but also by corporate interests that co-op our legislative processes and prevent real change from happening in Washington.

Delia has been an advocate for stronger ethics laws including banning legislators from becoming lobbyists. She understands that when elected officials betray the public trust and abuse their office for personal gain, it is our communities that suffer through a lack of resources and investments. When the ComEd scandal hit Springfield, Delia organized the Latino caucus to help elect new leadership and elect Illinois’ first Black Speaker of the House. Unlike her opponent, Delia has been committed to being a full-time legislator whose only job is to represent the interests of the community.

READY

Delia is ready to be a champion for good government and ethics as our Congresswoman. She does not take money from corporate PACs, the fossil fuel industry, pharmaceutical companies, the NRA, and other bad actors because she believes in being accountable to the people she represents and not special interests. She will fight for stronger ethics reforms in Washington as she has in Springfield including supporting legislation that ends the revolving door of government officials becoming lobbyists. She will work for comprehensive campaign finance reforms including banning dark money and overturning Citizens United to get rid of big money in politics.

RESULTS

Supported legislation that banned lawmakers from becoming lobbyists right after leaving office to fight corruption in Springfield

Supported legislation to create a “small donor match” for publicly financed elections in Illinois

VETERANS

ROOTED

Delia understands that we have a moral obligation to support and care for those who have served our country through military service. When we ask people to make the ultimate sacrifice, we must be willing to honor that sacrifice by supporting them when they come back home. This must include robust support for the spouses and children of military members, comprehensive health coverage, and services that ensure successful reintegration back into civilian life.

READY

As Congresswoman, Delia will be a champion for veterans and their families making sure that they receive the care and benefits they deserve. Delia will prioritize fully funding the Department of Veterans Affairs and eliminating the backlog in processing VA benefits so that it is easier for Veterans to access the healthcare and mental health services they need. She will support legislation to expand dental coverage and mental health services. She will fight for investments in VA infrastructure to ensure vets can access services at clinics and health centers close to their communities. Delia will also advocate for the thousands of veterans who have been unjustly deported and will fight to bring them home.

FOREIGN POLICY

ROOTED

Delia believes that our foreign policy goals should always be guided by a deep respect for the human rights of all peoples, center diplomatic solutions to conflict, and make every effort to avoid costly wars and the unnecessary loss of lives. The United States must be a world leader not in supplying weapons but in providing humanitarian assistance that supports and stabilizes democratic governance across the world. As a member of the United Methodist Church, Delia upholds the calling to “prioritize collaboration among nations, work to reduce the use and need for weapons, and foster just, equitable and durable solutions to the root causes of conflict.”

READY

Delia is ready to be a Congresswoman who advocates for a responsible, tempered, and informed approach to foreign policy. She believes war should only ever be undertaken when all diplomatic options have failed and the cost of not acting would produce great harm to human lives and human rights. She will advocate for Congress to reassert its Constitutional right to declare war because the American people deserve to have their elected members of Congress debate the merits of military intervention. She will be an advocate for refugees and migrants who have been displaced because of foreign conflicts and will be a champion for policies that address the root causes of migration. She will advocate for trade deals that center equity for both American workers and the global poor, stand against xenophobia in all foreign relations, foster collaboration with foreign nations towards our shared goals (like developing a global plan on climate change), and make humanitarian investments to help stabilize democratic governance across the world.

RESULTS

Co-sponsored legislation to divest from Russian stocks and create an emergency Ukrainian Refugee Resettlement program in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Advocated for budget investments to ensure Illinois would help house Afghan refugees after the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan

HOUSING

ROOTED

Delia has been an advocate for housing justice her entire life. Her family experienced housing instability when she was a child. She grew up volunteering at her church’s homeless shelter and became the Executive Director of a homeless services agency at 21 years old. These experiences imprinted on her the importance of housing as a human right. Delia believes that everyone deserves a safe, accessible, and affordable place to call home. She understands that housing and housing stability are deeply tied to community economic development, safety,and public health. This is why she has been a steadfast supporter of developing affordable housing and community-centered development that allows residents to afford to stay in their homes. Delia has worked extensively to extend protections to those at risk of losing their homes, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

READY

Delia has been one of the leading champions of housing justice in the State of Illinois and she is ready to be such a voice in Congress. She will be a champion for building more housing - especially affordable housing and housing for families- and developing the social safety net needed to end displacement and homelessness. She will fight to protect renters and homeowners from big banks and corporate landlords. She will advocate for strong consumer protections and anti-discrimination laws in housing. She will be a champion for community benefits agreements so that development projects focus on addressing community needs and don’t lead to destabilization and displacement.

RESULTS

Wrote and passed the nation’s most comprehensive emergency housing law to keep people housed during the Covid-19 pandemic which led to over $1 billion in rental and mortgage assistance reaching over 110,000 Illinois homes

Championed and won over $450 million for the construction and operation of affordable housing in the Illinois capital budget and annual state appropriations

Passed legislation to expand and increase funding for the Illinois Homeless Prevention Program, which grants people at risk of losing their homes emergency assistance with rent, mortgage, or utilities

HEALTHCARE

ROOTED

Growing up in a working family where affordable healthcare was not always available, Delia knows personally the difficult healthcare choices families make every day. She believes that no one should have to choose between a life-saving medicine or keeping a roof over their heads. Our healthcare system should exist to save lives and address people’s needs, and not to deliver massive profits to investors and pharmaceutical companies. As a State Representative, Delia has been a leader in the fight to make sure every Illinoian has access to healthcare including championing historic expansions of Medicaid and co-sponsoring laws to reduce racial disparities in our healthcare system.

READY

As Congresswoman, Delia will be a champion for getting health care costs down, including passing Medicare for All. She will take on the pharmaceutical and for-profit medical industries and champion legislation to lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs. She will increase healthcare access until we ultimately get Medicare for everyone, so no one is denied the care they need.

RESULTS

Wrote and passed a law that extends Medicaid to all low-income people over the age of 42, making Illinois the first state in the nation to grant healthcare access to seniors regardless of immigration status

She has supported and co-sponsored legislation to lower the costs of life-saving prescription drugs

Supported historic legislation championed and passed by the Illinois Black Caucus to address racial disparities in the IL healthcare system

She is pushing for a law to require a maximum number of patients per nurse, so we are putting patient care ahead of hospital profits.

IMMIGRATION

ROOTED

Delia is the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants who worked tirelessly to secure a brighter future for her and her siblings. She believes we must stop tearing families apart through deportation. Families belong together and our immigration laws must be transformed to welcome people trying to make a better life for themselves and their families rather than deporting them.

READY

Delia is ready to continue being a champion for immigrant families in Congress. She will be an unwavering champion for a pathway to citizenship for the more than 10 million undocumented people in the U.S. She will fight to make sure DACA recipients can permanently adjust their legal status, eliminate the case backlog in immigration court, push to reduce fees so that more people can file for citizenship, and will fight deportations to keep families together.

RESULTS

Co-sponsored legislation to stop Illinois cops from acting as Trump’s deportation force and making IL one of the most immigrant-friendly states in the nation

Co-sponsored legislation to shut down for-profit immigrant detention centers in IL

Championed budgetary investments that increased immigrant services line items and created immigrant welcoming centers throughout IL

Wrote and passed legislation to remove the citizenship requirement to apply for licensure in trades such as plumbing, water and well pump installation, and liquor control

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

ROOTED

In a time when Roe vs. Wade is on the cusp of being overturned, Delia understands more than anyone the need to protect bodily autonomy. Reproductive rights and abortion access are critical to Delia, and she believes people everywhere must have autonomy over their own bodies and pathways to economic security without fear of discrimination or violence. Delia acknowledges that reproductive rights are largely a women’s issue and the attack on abortion access is an effort to control women’s bodies. She also understands that nonbinary, transgender, and gender nonconforming people also access abortions and should be included in reproductive health conversations. Delia is an uncompromising supporter of reproductive rights and has consistently fought to protect the right to choose.

READY

Delia is ready to fight for reproductive justice in Congress as the first Latina congresswoman in the Midwest. She will fight to protect abortion access and co-sponsor legislation to repeal the Hyde Amendment. Delia will oppose all efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade and, if necessary because of a Supreme Court ruling, she will support federal legislation to codify the right to choose into law.

RESULTS

Co-sponsored the Reproductive Health Act to enshrine the right to choose into Illinois state law

Supported legislation to repeal the Parental Notice of Abortion Act to remove one of the final barriers to reproductive rights in our state

Endorsed by Emily’s List and PODER PAC, two organizations that help elect pro-choice women

EDUCATION

ROOTED

Delia is the product of public schools and graduated from Northeastern Illinois University, a public university. She is a strong advocate for public education for all Illinoisans. Delia has worked with educators, community stakeholders, and parents to fight for well-resourced and high-quality neighborhood schools.

READY

In Congress, Delia will continue to fight for the education system we deserve. She will advocate for additional federal resources so that communities can stop relying on property taxes and every neighborhood has strong schools. She understands that higher education must be accessible and affordable, and that is why she supports free, publicly-funded community colleges and public universities. She will be a champion for canceling student loan debt which has unfairly burdened working and middle-class families and young adults.

RESULTS

Chief-sponsored and passed legislation to create an elected and representative school board for Chicago Public Schools

Successfully advocated for hundreds of millions in increased funding for K-12 education to adequately fund local schools

A STRONG SAFETY NET

ROOTED

As a former social services administrator, Delia knows firsthand that many families across our community are struggling with food insecurity, housing instability, and lack of healthcare access. She knows that a strong social safety net is critical to ensure that the most vulnerable members of our society are protected. Programs that are critical for low-income and working families like social security, Medicaid and Medicare, unemployment insurance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) must be protected and expanded.

READY

Delia believes that in order for us to truly Build Back Better, we need to center women in the path to economic recovery for all. We know that millions of women have left the workforce as a result of the pandemic and we must invest in the supports that allow women to return to the workforce, including increasing wages for homecare and childcare workers and making these services available for all who need them. Delia will be a champion of new and necessary investments into our care economy including universal childcare and pre-K, paid sick leave, long-term care, expanding public housing so that no one experiences housing insecurity, and exploring universal basic income as a pathway to finally eliminating poverty and homelessness.

RESULTS

Wrote and passed a historic expansion to Medicaid in Illinois to extend coverage to undocumented seniors

Championed and passed legislation to make Universal Basic Income pilot programs in IL possible without interrupting public aid benefits

Supported budget appropriations to strengthen unemployment insurance during the peak of the pandemic when thousands of people lost their jobs

Led efforts to expand and increase funding for Illinois homeless prevention program

COMMUNITY INVESTMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

ROOTED

Delia spent nearly two decades working in and with community organizations, so she knows that economic development efforts should lead to thriving neighborhoods with robust local economies anchored by small businesses. She has been a strong proponent of community benefits agreements to ensure strong wages, equitable access, and community investment without displacement when large corporate developers attempt to profit off our communities. She has been a champion for local economies by sponsoring legislation to designate cultural districts where historic communities and their small businesses are promoted, invested in, and preserved. Delia also has seen how properly-regulated emerging technologies, including decentralized finance and blockchain technologies have the potential for improving the lives of many while also enabling social and economic growth.

READY

Delia is ready to be a champion in Congress for the small and developing businesses and local economies of the 3rd congressional district. She will fight for relief for the small businesses that have been most impacted by the Covid pandemic. Delia will also work to ensure that the US is a global leader in new and emerging technology fields to ensure that we remain competitive in the 21st Century economy. She will advocate for increased investments by the Department of Commerce for community-based economic development that promotes and preserves thriving local economies. She will fight for transportation investments that enable residents to access good-paying jobs throughout the region and enable people in the District and beyond to patronize local businesses. You can count on Delia to prioritize the needs of small businesses and local economies over the interests of large corporations because she does not take corporate money and is not beholden to their interests.

RESULTS

Chief-sponsored legislation to create first-in-the-nation State Designated Cultural Districts to invest in local communities, promote economic development and preserve unique cultural and historical legacies

Chief-sponsored legislation to create the Milwaukee Ave Polish Heritage Corridor to honor and preserve the historical contributions of Chicago’s Polish American community

Supported community development projects on the Northwest side that prioritize investments into affordable housing

Championed and passed legislation to make Universal Basic Income pilot programs in IL possible without interrupting public aid benefits

WORKER RIGHTS

ROOTED

Delia grew up in a working-class family where her parents often worked long hours at minimum wage jobs just to make ends meet. She understands that workers are the backbone of a strong economy and that protecting worker rights is critical to ensuring a thriving middle class. As corporations report record profits in the wake of the pandemic, prosperity and recovery must be shared with the frontline and low-income workers that make it possible. It is not enough to “create more jobs”--those jobs must pay a living wage, provide strong benefits, and protect a worker’s right to organize for fair pay and good working conditions. This is why Delia fought for and helped pass a $15 minimum wage in IL. Her record on worker rights is clear and that is why according to the IL AFL-CIO, Delia is one of only 17 state legislators with a 100% pro-labor voting record.

READY

Delia is the kind of working-class leader we need fighting for working families and the middle class in Congress. She fought for and helped pass a living wage for working families in Illinois and she will do the same in Congress by co-sponsoring the Raise the Wage Act to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. She will be an unapologetic champion of workers’ rights and co-sponsor the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) enshrining workers' rights to collectively bargain. Delia supports a Federal Jobs Guarantee focused on clean energy while investing in healthcare and infrastructure so that everyone who needs a job is guaranteed work that pays them a living wage.

RESULTS

Chief co-sponsor of legislation to raise Illinois minimum wage to $15 per hour

Co-sponsor of HJR11 to enshrine the right to unionize in the IL state constitution and prevent the spread of right-to-work laws

One of only 17 state legislators with a 100% pro-labor voting record

VOTING RIGHTS

ROOTED

Delia has a strong record of being on the front lines of pro-democracy reforms and advancing voting rights. She understands that a strong democracy requires an engaged and informed electorate and policies that protect and expand voting rights rather than restrict them. As a community leader, she supported efforts to expand automatic voter regi