Villegas and Ramirez Battle in New Latino Dominated District
Chicago Alderman Gil Villegas and Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Chicago) are seeking the Democratic nomination for the new 3rd Congressional District.
Four Democrats and one Republican are running for Congress in this newly-designed district, created after the 2020 census, and aimed at electing another Latino in Illinois’ delegation.
What to know about the 3rd Congressional District
The 124.5 square mile district runs from Western Avenue in the city and stretches west toward Humboldt Park, Logan Square, Albany Park, Portage Park, and into the suburbs stretching out to Elmwood Park, Schiller Park, Bensenville, Elk Grove Village, Rosemont, Addison, Wheaton, Winfield, Bartlett and West Chicago. The new district is interesting in that it encompasses both progresssive neighborhoods of Chicago and historically conservative towns in DuPage County.
About 44% of the voting age population is Latino, and President Biden won the district by 41 points.
Who’s Running?
Though there are four democratic candidates running––Juan Aguirre, Iymen Chehade, State Rep. Delia Ramirez, Gilbert Villegas––it’s really a close two-person race between Ramirez and Villegas.
Ramirez was elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 2018. Prior to that she served in leadership positions for numerous organizations, including the Latin United Community Housing Association. She is running on a progressive platform and is endorsed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (who currently represents a portion of the district), the Chicago Teachers Union, and the Working Families Party, among others.
Villegas is a Chicago alderman, a former Marine, and Chair of the Chicago Latino Caucus. He is endorsed by Rep. Garcia’s predecessor Luis Guytierrez, and Comptroller Susana Mendoza, among others.
While both are fairly liberal, Villegas is more moderate and says he can find ways to collaborate in a divided Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, Ramirez says Villegas is simply more of the status quo. As of March 31, Villegas had around $600,000 on hand and Ramirez had about $321,000.
Issues
Like many districts, economic development, affordable housing, and affordable healthcare are major issues here. Villegas pushed for a universal basic income program Mayor Lori Lightfoot eventually adopted, while Ramirez has been a champion of Medicaid expansion and worked as an affordable housing advocate. Ramirez also provided rental mortgage assistance to Illinoisans and passed the elected school board for Chicago.
Villegas has been running on his Covid-19 response. His office set up vaccine clinics and helped residents find food, housing, and other necessities, and he was a leader in expanding outdoor dining.
Public safety is another big issue. Villegas claims Ramirez is soft on crime and wants to defund the police. Ramirez has fought back, telling Chicago Magazine, “I’m not the ‘defund the police’ candidate,” and noting that she helped secure $200 million for violence prevention and pension benefits for police and firefighters. Villegas has said he will hire more police officers and add more FBI and ATF agents, and invest in officer training.
Both are for gun reform. Villegas says he is pro universal background checks, an assault weapons ban, closing the Charlston loophole, and fighting back against so-called “ghost guns.” Ramirez is also for guns off our universal background checks, as well as banning assault-style weapons, and reducing the flow of illegal guns across state lines. She says she will push for expanding mental health services, street outreach, and intervention, and expanding restorative justice programs in schools and community centers as part of a public safety strategy.
When it comes to immigration, both candidates want to provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. Villegas says he will fight for undocumented immigrants to purchase health insurance on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace, and for “comprehensive immigration reform,” though he has offered few details on what that includes. Ramirez is the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants and hopes to create a pathway to citizenship for the more than 10 million undocumented people in the U.S. She has said she will “fight to make sure DACA recipients can permanently adjust their legal status, eliminate the case backlog in immigration court, push to reduce fees so that more people can file for citizenship, and will fight deportations to keep families together.”
The election is June 28 and the race is expected to be tight, though (UPDATED: there has been little public polling in the race), while Villegas has more cash on hand.