Delia Ramirez Bio
Delia Catalina Ramirez (born June 2, 1983) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Illinois’s 3rd congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party and the Working Families Party, she previously represented the 4th district in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2018 to 2023. She was the first Guatemalan American elected to the Illinois General Assembly, a milestone that has shaped her role as a voice for immigrant communities and working families in the Midwest.
Raised in Chicago’s Humboldt Park as the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, Ramirez built her career in community organizing and nonprofit leadership before entering elected office. Her legislative priorities include affordable housing, immigrant rights, tenant protections, and expanding access to healthcare for underserved communities. Over the course of her career, she has been recognized for combining grassroots advocacy with state-level policymaking, eventually rising to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Early Life and Background
Delia Catalina Ramirez was born on June 2, 1983, in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the city’s West Side. Her parents were undocumented immigrants from Guatemala, and their experience shaped her early awareness of the challenges facing immigrant families in the United States. She has spoken publicly about how her upbringing informed her lifelong commitment to social and economic justice.
Ramirez attended Sabin Magnet Elementary School in Chicago and later graduated from St. Gregory High School. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in justice studies from Northeastern Illinois University, where her academic training reinforced her interest in equity and public service. Her family’s working-class background and her Guatemalan heritage remain central to her political identity.
Path to US Politics
Before seeking elected office, Ramirez spent more than a decade working in community-based organizations focused on housing and homelessness in Chicago. She served as executive director of the Center for Changing Lives, a homelessness-focused nonprofit, from 2004 to 2013, and later as president of the Latin United Community Housing Association (LUCHA) from 2016 to 2019. Earlier in her career, she was president of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association from 2005 to 2007. These roles gave her direct experience organizing tenants, immigrants, and low-income residents across the city.
Ramirez entered electoral politics in 2018, when she ran for the open 4th district seat in the Illinois House of Representatives to succeed retiring incumbent Cynthia Soto. Her campaign centered on stable housing, stable schools, reliable government, and justice reform, and she was backed by a coalition of labor unions, progressive organizations, and Latino leaders, including then-Cook County Commissioner Chuy García and U.S. Representative Luis Gutiérrez. She won a four-way Democratic primary with 48 percent of the vote and ran unopposed in the general election, becoming the first Guatemalan American elected to the Illinois General Assembly.
Delia Ramirez Career
Early Career (2018–2019)
After winning her 2018 general election, Ramirez was appointed by local Democratic leaders to replace retiring incumbent Cynthia Soto and was sworn into the Illinois House of Representatives on December 21, 2018. She served the remainder of the 100th General Assembly before being sworn into the 101st General Assembly on January 9, 2019. During this early period, she joined the Illinois House Progressive Caucus and quickly established herself as an advocate for housing and immigrant rights.
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 should be set aside to address homelessness and affordable housing. In early 2020, she chaired a state legislative task force focused on the condition of children of incarcerated people, an issue she continued to highlight throughout her time in the Illinois House.
Illinois House of Representatives Breakthrough (2019–2022)
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Ramirez sponsored legislation to create a temporary moratorium on rent and mortgage payments and to strengthen eviction moratoriums. Although that bill was defeated after strong opposition from realtors, she successfully pressured lawmakers to increase the size of a tenant and landlord relief fund in the 2021 budget bill by 90 percent. She also led a successful effort to include a provision providing Medicaid benefits to undocumented seniors in the same budget bill, a step that made Illinois the first state to offer Medicaid regardless of immigration status.
In the 2021–22 session, Ramirez was named vice-chair of the newly created Housing Committee in the Illinois House and introduced legislation addressing pandemic-related housing issues. A version of that legislation passed and was signed into law in May 2021 as the COVID-19 Emergency Housing Act. The law created guidelines for administering one billion dollars in federal rent relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, automatically sealed evictions filed during the pandemic, extended a statewide eviction moratorium, and paused judicial sales of possession.
Ramirez was reelected to her Illinois House seat in 2020, further consolidating her reputation as a leading progressive voice in the state legislature. Her work on housing, immigrant rights, and healthcare access drew national attention and laid the groundwork for her next political step.
U.S. House of Representatives Era (2023–Present)
On December 7, 2021, Ramirez announced her candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois’s 3rd congressional district, an open seat created by redistricting after the 2020 U.S. census. In the Democratic primary, she won 66 percent of the vote, defeating Chicago City Council member Gilbert Villegas and professor Iymen Chehade. She went on to defeat Republican nominee Justin Burau in the general election with 68.5 percent of the vote, beginning her tenure in Congress in January 2023.
In 2024, Ramirez ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and defeated Republican John Booras in the general election, receiving 67.3 percent of the vote. Her time in the U.S. House has been marked by continued advocacy for affordable housing, tenant protections, immigrant rights, and healthcare access. In August 2025, while speaking at the Panamerican Congress of the Progressive International in Mexico City, she proudly affirmed her Guatemalan heritage, reaffirming her commitment to representing immigrant communities in American politics.
Notable Events and Milestones
One of Ramirez’s signature legislative achievements was helping make Illinois the first state to provide Medicaid regardless of immigration status, a milestone secured through the 2021 state budget bill. She also played a central role in passing the COVID-19 Emergency Housing Act in 2021, which provided sweeping protections for tenants during the pandemic. Her 2022 election to the U.S. House of Representatives made her one of the first Latinas from Illinois to serve in Congress, continuing her trailblazing path as the first Guatemalan American in the Illinois General Assembly.
Delia Ramirez Career Wins
Delia Ramirez has built a record of electoral victories at both the state and federal levels, beginning with her 2018 win in the Illinois House of Representatives and continuing through her congressional campaigns.
Illinois House Highlights
Ramirez won her first election to the Illinois House of Representatives in 2018, capturing 48 percent of the vote in a four-way Democratic primary and running unopposed in the general election. She was reelected in 2020, solidifying her hold on the 4th district seat representing Chicago’s Humboldt Park, Logan Square, and surrounding neighborhoods.
U.S. House Highlights
In 2022, Ramirez won the Democratic primary for Illinois’s 3rd congressional district with 66 percent of the vote and went on to defeat Republican Justin Burau with 68.5 percent of the vote in the general election. In 2024, she ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and defeated Republican John Booras with 67.3 percent of the vote, securing her continued presence in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Delia Ramirez Family
Family Background and Lineage
Delia Catalina Ramirez was raised in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood as the daughter of undocumented immigrants from Guatemala. Her parents’ experience as immigrants shaped her lifelong commitment to advocating for immigrant communities, affordable housing, and economic opportunity. Her Guatemalan heritage remains a central part of her public identity, and she has often spoken about how her upbringing inspired her entry into public service.
Personal Life
In October 2020, Delia Ramirez married Boris Hernandez, who is a DACA recipient. Ramirez is also the first United Methodist Latina in Congress, and she has spoken about how her Christian faith influences her approach to public service and her commitment to social justice.