Delia Ramirez officially made history after defeating Republican challenger Justin Burau in the race for Illinois' 3rd Congressional District.
The race was first reported by NBC News as Ramirez had a 65% lead over Burau with nearly 70% of the vote counted.
With the win, Ramirez is the first Latina ever to represent a Midwestern state in Congress and also becomes the third Latina ever elected from Illinois. The other two were longtime 4th Congressional District Representative Luis Gutierrez and his successor, current Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.
Both García's and Ramirez's districts are majority Chicago, with the latter's 3rd Congressional District containing parts of Humboldt Park, and all of Belmont Cragin and Hermosa—all Hispanic-majority neighborhoods.
Because the 3rd Congressional District is centered around a major Democratic center like Chicago, Ramirez's general election matchup against Burau was little more than a formality before she could officially claim the title of congresswoman.
In the June 28 primary, Ramirez was the only woman and garnered 65% of the vote over her fellow Democrats.
Born in Guatemala, Ramirez's parents crossed the US-Mexico border while her mom was still pregnant with Delia. They settled in Chicago's Belmont Cragin neighborhood, and Ramirez was born into the local United Methodist Church.
The family lived in the church until Ramirez's parents saved enough money to buy their own home in Humboldt Park when she was seven. Despite the change of neighborhood, it was still close to the church and remains a part of Ramirez's life to this day.
She worked there while studying at Northeastern Illinois University, and shortly after graduating, at age 21, Ramirez was named interim executive director of the church's outreach ministry known as the Center for Changing Lives.
Ramirez first ran for office in 2018 after a career up to that point of doing outreach to support the community in any way she could, and was elected to represent her community at the state level in Illinois' 4th House District.
“Politics happened to me. Growing up as a volunteer there and then as a director, I constantly saw how local politics played a role in our ability to serve people,” she told AL DÍA in a recent profile.
Now, Ramirez will be able to serve people in her community at the highest level in her career.
