House - Lauren Underwood - IL-14
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- Democrat running for reelection in Northern Illinois, the outer northern and western suburbs of Chicago
- Video clip: “Infrastructure Bill Passes!”
Lauren Underwood is the youngest black woman ever to be sworn into Congress. Her experience as a nurse and health policy advisor led her to initiate, co-sponsor, and pass numerous pieces of legislation to improve the lives of everyday Americans. She has an approval rating of 100% by both the National Education Association and Planned Parenthood and a 97% approval rating by the League of Conservation Voters.
This fall, Lauren was described as “the most endangered Democrat” in Illinois. Her 2018 victory over incumbent Republican Randy Hultgren by 4% was a stunning upset. The Illinois 14th, composed of suburbs, villages, and farms stretching from the Wisconsin border to Interstate 80 west of Chicago, is traditionally a right-leaning district; Trump won it by 4%, and then incumbent Republican Hultgren had voted with Trump’s position 96.8% of the time, including against the Affordable Care Act. Lauren had an even closer call in 2020 as she defeated Jim Oberweis, the wealthy chairman of a family dairy, who had lost so many campaigns for state and national office that he was referred to as “The Milk Dud” by a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. Even with a weak opponent, Lauren’s margin of victory was just 1.7%. In the past, many supporters have come from outside the state to support her, and she will need that support again to win a third term.
Lauren was born in Ohio in 1986; her family moved to Naperville, Illinois, when she was three years old. When she was 8, she was diagnosed with a heart condition. The excellent care she received at that time inspired her to pursue a career in nursing. She earned an undergraduate degree in nursing at the University of Michigan, and a master’s in nursing and public health at Johns Hopkins University. She began working as a special assistant in the Obama administration in 2014. Two years later, President Obama appointed her to serve as a senior advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services, where she helped implement the Affordable Care Act. In the House, she serves on three committees: Education and Labor, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs.
In its endorsement of Congresswoman Underwood in September, 2020, the Chicago Tribune said: “This is a pretty good time to have a medical professional in Congress (the pandemic), but Underwood also made contributions on other health-related issues … One of her bills signed into law makes lower-cost, generic insulin available to patients more quickly. As for the future of health insurance, Underwood wants to fix struggling Obamacare and lower the Medicare eligibility age … Underwood took on another issue important to constituents: agriculture. When other Democrats showed little interest, she pushed to ensure farmers hurt by the trade war with China got the federal market protection payments they were promised.”
Early donations can help Lauren communicate to voters her record as an outstanding, productive representative for her district, and gain the momentum needed to win in 2022.
