Marie Newman Wins Illinois House Seat, Pledging To Fight For Working Families And The Middle Class
“This economy doesn’t work for everyone; it works for very, very few people,” Newman said.
Since 2017, Marie Newman has been vying to disrupt the legacy of centrist representation in Illinois’s Third Congressional District—one that encompasses the southwest side of Chicago and its southwest suburbs. Tonight, she was successful.
Since 1992, the district has been represented by a member of the Lipinski family—first Bill, then his son, Dan. As his father was when he served, Dan Lipinski is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition of centrist House Democrats.
In the Democratic primary race in March, Lipinski lost narrowly to Newman in an upset. Newman told The Appeal she was effective in that race because her team was laser-focused on voter outreach and maintaining narrative control.
Newman ran on a platform that included many progressive policies, such as Medicare for All, a $15 federal minimum wage, an “unambiguous” pathway to citizenship for immigrants, and supporting green jobs.
“Working families and the middle class are getting the short straw every time,” she told The Appeal. “This economy doesn’t work for everyone; it works for very, very few people.”
She also supports reforming the criminal legal system, legalizing marijuana, expanding voting rights to formerly incarcerated people, and passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a bill that endeavors to radically reform policing on the federal level.
Though she won by embracing progressive policies, Newman believes in “rolling up your sleeves” and working across the aisle. “We’re running out of choices,” she said.