Delia Ramirez


Delia Ramirez is Chicago politician who is currently a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives for the 4th district. The 4th district includes the Chicago neighborhoods of East Humboldt Park, Hermosa, Bucktown, West Town, Ukrainian Village, East Village, and Logan Square. Ramirez first won election to the House in 2018, and is running uncontested in 2020. She is the first Guatemalan American elected to the Illinois General Assembly.

Early life, education, and career

Ramirez was born to Guatemalan immigrant parents in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago. She graduated from Sabin Magnet Elementary School and earned a bachelor of arts in justice studies from Northeastern Illinois University.
Prior to entering elected office, Ramirez worked in and held leadership roles in a number of social service agencies, non-profit advocacy organizations, and local community organizations. Notably, she was president of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association from 2005 to 2007, executive director of the homelessness-focused non-profit Center for Changing Lives from 2004 to 2013, and president of the Latin United Community Housing Association from 2016 to 2019.
In the 2018 Illinois House of Representatives election, she ran for the open 4th district seat to succeed incumbent Cynthia Soto. She identified stable housing & stable schools, Reliable and responsible government, and Public safety and justice reform as her primary issues of concern. She was part of a slate of Latino candidates backed by then-Cook County Commissioner and congressional candidate Chuy García. She was also endorsed by a number of local elected officials, labor unions, and progressive organizations including U.S. Representative Luis Gutiérrez, aldermen Carlos Ramirez-Rosa and Roberto Maldonado, Chicago Teachers Union, Illinois AFL–CIO, SEIU Healthcare and Local 73, United Working Families, and Our Revolution Illinois. Ramirez won a four-way Democratic primary election on March 20 with 48% of the vote, and ran uncontested in the general election on November 6, 2018.

Illinois House of Representatives (2019–present)

Ramirez was sworn into office on January 9, 2019. She is a member of the Illinois House of Representatives Progressive Caucus.

Tenure

In October 2019, Ramirez was part of a group of Democratic state legislators who opposed Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot's proposed plan for the use of a new real estate transfer tax, arguing that a portion of the funds from the new tax should be explicitly set aside to address homelessness and affordable housing. In early 2020, Ramirez headed a task force in the state legislature focused on the condition of children of incarcerated individuals.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Ramirez sponsored legislation that would have created a temporary moratorium on rent and mortgage payments and strengthed eviction moratoriums, but the bill was defeated after strong opposition from realtors. However, she was able to pressure lawmakers to increase the size of a relief fund for tenants and landlords in the 2021 budget bill passed during the pandemic by 90%. She also led a successful effort to include a provision that would provide Medicaid benefits to undocumented seniors in the budget bill. Ramirez had been pushing for such a provision since 2019, and its successful adoption made Illinois the first state to provide Medicaid regardless of immigration status.

Committee memberships

In the 2019-20 term, Ramirez is a member of the following committees: