Delia Ramirez

Delia Ramirez was born in Chicago's Belmont Cragin neighborhood and grew up in Humboldt Park, where her parents found an affordable apartment above a church.¹ Her Guatemalan immigrant parents worked alternating shifts to care for their children, and she watched neighbors turn to the church for food and housing assistance.¹ Her family includes her husband, Boris, and two golden retrievers.¹

Ramirez graduated from Northeastern Illinois University.¹ She has also chaired the boards of the Latin United Community Housing Association and the Logan Square Neighborhood Association.¹ Before entering elected office, she directed Humboldt Park Social Services, later called the Center for Changing Lives, which helps families with housing and financial stability.² She later became deputy director of the Community Renewal Society and helped found Chicago Justice for Our Neighbors, a free immigration clinic.²

She won election to the Illinois House in 2018.² She served as an assistant majority leader.³ In 2020, she helped advance a budget provision creating state health coverage for low income residents aged 65 and older regardless of immigration status.⁴ She entered Congress in 2023, becoming its first Latina member from the Midwest.¹

Her current committees are Homeland Security and Veterans' Affairs.¹ Her priorities include Medicare for All, affordable housing, tenant organizing rights, reproductive rights, public education and comprehensive immigration reform.¹ She is seeking reelection against Republican Angel Oakley in 2026.⁵