Chicago, IL: Member of Congress:
I currently live in Chicago, IL which means I am situated in Illinois’s Congressional District #4. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia is a member of the Democratic Party as well as our US representative. He is a Mexican- born politician, he has been serving as our representative since January 3rd, 2019. Before that, he served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, the Illinois State Senate and Chicago City Council. In 2015, he went against Rahm Emmanuel for Mayor of Chicago but unfortunately lost. He has been a part of our legislature since 1986 but has only been our member of Congress for a couple weeks, prior to him Luis Gutierrez was in office. I would say based on his previous election results he is in a safe seat. Unfortunately, during his run for Mayor he did not win but he did have a big support system from voter and endorsements. Bernie Sanders was one of the people that endorse him and his political beliefs as well as Luis Gutierrez after announcing his retirement from Congress. During his campaign for Member of Congress, he won 60% of the primary votes. I think being Hispanic really helps him relate to the minorities of our district. As far as him being member of any caucus, it has only been stated he will be joining the Congressional Progressive Caucus but nothing else has been stated. My district is very urban-rural, many immigrants for decades now have established themselves here but over the years under Mayor Rahm Emmanuel gentrification has been started to arise, condos are being made as well as supermarkets like Walmart and Target are being built as well as housing cost like Mortgage and rent are increasing. Out of 700, 585 residents in my district 479,290 are Hispanic/Latino. For the past couple of years, the democratic party has taken office.
State House Representative
In this position, I am listed in a different district. Our state representative is Iris Martinez and she represents Illinois’s 20th state senate district. She has been in this position since 2003, her election marked the first time a Hispanic woman had been elected to the state senate in Illinois history. Martinez is involved in the Illinois legislative Latino caucus, which she has given her a platform to give voice to initiatives that are important to minorities. She is involved in committees like Commerce and Economic Development, Education, Energy, and Public Utilities, Executive, Government Accountability/Pensions and Transportation. I do believe she has a safe seat, for the 2018 re-elections she had won 100% of the votes. Since 2003, she has continued to earn and maintain her position because of the voters’ favor towards her. Martinez has continuously used her position to advocate for affordable housing, expanding health care access and ensuring seniors and the disabled to given proper care. She is also a strong voice for children and has started an initiative that involves children receiving health check-ups, screening, dental check-ups, immunizations as well as backpacks. Since she represents one of Chicago’s most diverse neighborhoods, she is a voice to a lot of minorities that are not given the same equal rights as everyone else.