2022 Voter Guide

Candidate Q&A

Why are you running?

When I was eight years old, my father died suddenly. My brother and I were raised by a single mom and I helped take care of my little brother. We lived in public housing, relied on Social Security, and food stamps. I know what it’s like to struggle, so this campaign is personal to me. Too many people are struggling right now, and I will fight for them like I always have, because it’s personal for me.

I’ve always been motivated to help create opportunities for working families. Like many in our community, I couldn’t afford college, so I joined the Marines where I proudly served my country. I turned 18 in boot camp and served overseas in Desert Storm. When I got home after my service, I drove a bread delivery truck for a decade. I was elected to union leadership by the other workers to help fight for a livable wage for everyone.

People were working paycheck to paycheck at the factory, just like people are today, and many of them didn’t speak English, so I helped them understand their contracts and fought for a livable wage. I went on to work with small businesses to create thousands of good-paying jobs for women, veterans, and minority workers. Now I’m on the city council, where I’ve expanded affordable housing in Chicago, led efforts to pass Universal Basic Income to put money directly into the pockets of low-income families, and helped deliver better wages for Chicago airport workers. These are real results for people and that’s why I’m running for Congress: to deliver opportunities for working families, safer streets, and more investments for our communities.

What does this office do well, and what needs fixing?

There’s not much that Washington is doing well right now because members of Congress are fixated at fighting with each other instead of addressing real problems. Costs are rising and working families need relief. Congress should get to work lowering the cost of healthcare by capping insulin prices and letting Medicare bulk negotiate prescription drug prices. Those are reforms that could take place tomorrow if enough members of Congress had the courage to do what’s right. As to what Washington does well? Social Security and Medicare are programs that do a tremendous job providing for seniors and we need to protect them.

What is the most pressing issue facing your constituents and how do you plan on addressing it?

Costs for just about everything are rising, from the grocery store to the used car lot, and Washington isn’t doing enough to fix it. In some cases Washington is actually making things worse. I know firsthand how tough it can be for working families to make ends meet – after my father died when I was just eight years old, my mother worked to pay the bills and keep a roof over our head. It wasn’t always easy, but she managed, with help from Social Security benefits. That’s why I was so heartened to see the Child Tax Credit enacted last year and so disappointed that even when Democrats control all of Washington they let it expire. In Congress I will fight for working families by:

-Extending the enhanced child tax credit under the American Rescue Plan, which helped so many families get through the Covid-19 pandemic and reduced child poverty by 30%

-Passing Paid Family and Medical Leave at the federal level for at least four weeks

-Investing in major child care expansion and subsidies and high-quality prekindergarten programs

-Passing the Paycheck Fairness Act, to eliminate pay disparities between men and women in the workplace

-Building on the success of the enhanced child tax credit by moving toward a federal Universal Basic Income (UBI) program to address wealth inequality and reduce poverty

I will always fight to make sure that working families are able not just to survive, but to thrive.

What specific steps would you take to ensure your office is accessible and responsive to your constituents?

It’s important to me that I see and work with my constituents directly. If I’m not available to the folks I represent, well then I’m not doing a very good job representing them. This means a well staffed district office with an open door policy. More than that, I want to make sure I’m available to the people who can’t make it into the office by implementing a robust online communications system to keep in touch with all my constituents and ensure that I’m listening and learning from what my district wants and needs.