Two-time presidential contender Bernie Sanders revved up a crowd Saturday in Humboldt Park to promote his populist agenda, pitch progressive ideals and endorse two Democratic congressional contenders from Chicago in hopes they will join him in Washington, D.C. next year.

The rally with the Vermont senator at the Humboldt Park Boathouse came as part of Sanders’ multi-stop tour in Chicago to encourage more progressives to the polls with a little more than a week to go before the June 28 primary. Among several candidates he’s backing, Sanders endorsed state Rep. Delia Ramirez in the 3rd Congressional District race and civil right activist Jonathan Jackson in the 1st Congressional District race.

Sanders blasted the power and influence held by the nation’s billionaires and said candidates like Ramirez and Jackson would join him in fighting for the needs of average Americans.

“These billionaires don’t want people like Delia and Jonathan to be in Washington,” Sanders said to a crowd of about 300. “They don’t want them. We do want them. They got the money. We got the people power.”

This month’s primary is the first time voting will take place for a new congressional district drawn by state lawmakers to more broadly represent the growth and spread of Chicago-area Latinx people. Their spurt in population in Cook County and the collar counties largely flew under the radar until 2020 Census data showed that the multiethnic group gained more than two million Illinois residents over the last decade, and their presence extended well beyond the city and county.

The reshaped 3rd Congressional District—its previous iteration was represented by Rep. Marie Newman, who is now running for the redrawn 6th District—was reconfigured during the redistricting process that happens every ten years to account for population changes. Prior to the remap, there was only one congressional district in Illinois that was majority Latinx: the 4th District, represented by Mexican-American Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García.

The 3rd District’s new boundaries no longer cover the southwest suburbs, but extend as far north as Albany Park, and stretch westward into racially diverse municipalities including Addison, Rosemont, Elgin, Bensenville, and West Chicago. The 4th District was also redrawn to accommodate those southwest suburban areas previously represented by the 3rd.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent with ties to key backers of Democratic congressional candidates Delia Ramirez and Jonathan Jackson, is endorsing them, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

Sanders will be in Chicago next week for a “Fighting Back Against Corporate Greed” rally Thursday at Teamsters Local 705, 1645 W. Jackson Blvd., and for a Friday keynote address to the Labor Notes Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont, a large convention of grassroots union activists.

The senator will also make side trips to Racine, Wisconsin, and Burlington, Iowa, to support striking UAW workers.

The Sanders team is still putting together his Chicago schedule, with the senator expected to appear with Ramirez and Jackson to leverage his endorsement.

Delia Ramirez was literally born into community service.

The 39-year-old Illinois state representative and former community organizer, who’s running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the newly created 3rd congressional district, told Latino Rebels the story of how she went from being the daughter of immigrants living above a church to become one of the youngest and most effective leaders in Illinois politics.

Her parents emigrated from the same town in Guatemala, and her family lived above a church, Humboldt Park United Methodist, in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood during the first years of Ramirez’s life. Her parents agreed to rent the upstairs apartment at a reduced rate in exchange for janitorial services.

The church also provided a number of services for the local homeless population, most notably a food pantry and soup kitchen, where Ramirez spent much of her childhood.

“When I wasn’t in church, in the actual sanctuary, I was volunteering with my mom at the food pantry or at the soup kitchen,” Ramirez said. “So helping others and compassion —understanding that you don’t have to have a lot, you just have to have a giving heart and the willingness to serve— has been instilled in my DNA since the day I was born.”

On a recent Saturday in Chicago’s Belmont Cragin neighborhood on the West Side, State Rep. and congressional candidate Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, posed a question to a room of her supporters.

“What kind of Democrat are we going to send to Congress?” Ramirez asked. “The status quo, machine politician that uses bullying and waving dollars to try to get votes, or what you and I are building?”

Click to listen to Delia on the Joan Esposito show on SoundCloud.

The leaking of a Supreme Court memo indicating the overturning of landmark abortion rights decision Roe v. Wade has thrust the question of abortion rights back into the spotlight.

Here in Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker says no matter how the Supreme Court eventually rules, abortion is still safe and legal in this state. But that is not the case everywhere in the Midwest. Now, legislators and activists nationwide are contemplating what reproductive rights might look like from state to state in the absence of Roe.

In a recent Saturday, the fight for the Democratic nomination in Illinois’ sprawling new Latino-leaning congressional district played out in a few square miles of Chicago’s Northwest Side.

In a Guatemalan restaurant in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, state Rep. Delia Ramirez, 4th District, told supporters they’re working for a progressive who will keep fighting progressive fights: “We’re not just going to send the first Latina from the entire Midwest to Congress, we’re sending one of ours.”

With prospects for comprehensive climate legislation looking dim, a number of congressional Democrats and several dozen progressive groups are set to unveil a “Green New Deal Champions” pledge for congressional candidates on Monday. It’s intended to further define what it means for both sitting and aspiring federal lawmakers to support the Green New Deal, adding meat to the bones of a framework critics have long accused of being both too broad and not specific enough.

LOGAN SQUARE — Elected leaders and community organizers want the state to invest millions in federal funding toward affordable housing in the Logan Square area, while alderpeople try to maintain high fees for developers who tear down homes along The 606’s Bloomingdale Trail.

Members of Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Alds. Daniel La Spata (1st) and Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), and State Reps. Delia Ramirez and Will Guzzardi hosted a press conference Monday outside of Logan Square Neighborhood Association office at 2840 N. Milwaukee Ave.

WASHINGTON — A poll of the newly created heavily Hispanic congressional district shows the race wide open — with state Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, having an edge over Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) — and how Sen. Bernie Sanders and Mayor Lori Lightfoot could be major factors.

The new 3rd Congressional District is so Democratic that the winner of the June 28 Illinois primary is the favorite to clinch the seat next November.

La propuesta HB 4437 contempla que se les otorgue seguro de salud a precio asequible a inmigrantes indocumentados y a quienes han obtenido su residencia permanente hace menos de cinco años. Según datos, en 2020 el estado de Illinois tuvo un gasto por 870 millones de dólares para dar servicio de emergencia a estas personas. Se estima que para dar cobertura a dicha población solo se necesitaría una inversión de 271 millones de dólares.

WASHINGTON —Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia — who leads a potent local progressive political operation — on Tuesday is endorsing state Rep. Delia Ramirez in her Democratic primary bid to represent the new Illinois Hispanic congressional district.

Garcia said he has known Ramirez for years — “I’ve been a mentor to her,” and she has been part of his campaign team and progressive coalition.

“Delia is who I believe in,” Garcia told the Chicago Sun-Times. “And I think that we need more Latinas in Congress.” At present there are 13 Latina members. “So it’s definitely time for them. And I hope my endorsement can make a difference.”

“The fact that there are still so few at the table and on these important committees where these decisions are getting made, it’s just, it’s outrageous,” said Ingrid Durán, a Washington lobbyist who is PODER PAC’s board chair and founder. “That’s why we are laser-focused on getting more Latinas in Congress.”

PODER PAC began in 2008 with a mission to help get Latinas into all levels of public office, from school boards on up. But seeing the dearth of representation in Congress, the political fundraising group changed its focus in 2015 to backing congressional candidates.

La representante estatal Delia Ramirez es la segunda candidata que aspira al escaño, creado luego de que las estadísticas del censo 2020 fueran reveladas y mostraran una mayoría de población hispana al norte de chicago y partes de los condados de Cook y DuPage.

State Senator Pacione-Zayas (D- Chicago) and House Assistant Majority Leader Delia Ramirez (D- Chicago) along with other community leaders celebrated a new law that allows the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to designate cultural districts throughout the state. “I am proud to have worked on this new law, and I am excited to see how communities come together to preserve their identities,” Pacione-Zayas said. “The law affirms and uplifts all the unique cultures in our state as we work toward economic recovery from the pandemic.”

Over 50 people gathered in protest and celebration Monday morning on the Far North Side as politicians and activists spoke to denounce Columbus Day and lift up Indigenous Peoples Day in what some called an act of reconciliation and healing.

State Rep. Delia Ramirez, one of the speakers at the rally and a member of the Indigenous Peoples Day Coalition, announced the reintroduction of a bill that would officially change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day on the statewide level.

It may come as a surprise to people in other parts of the country that the Midwest, being so far from the coasts and so far from the Rio Bravo, has a robust Latino population. But here, it’s a well-known fact that Chicago has been a city of migrants for more than a century and that the Spanish- and bilingual-speaking demographic is growing to the point of comprising one third of the population.

As the calendar marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month (HHM)—yes I know; the word Hispanic is a misnomer to many, especially due to this next fact—it’s worth noting that it aligns with the independence of various Latin American nations. Independence from whom or what? From its former colonial power, Spain.

On Saturday, Aug. 28, Special Olympics Illinois invites the community to join a "Family Fun Day" in Chicago's Humboldt Park.

Special Olympics Illinois athletes, families and staff will be joined by representatives from Amazon, state Sen. Omar Aquino (2nd District), and state Rep. Delia Ramirez (4th District).

In a major breakthrough after years of failed attempts, state lawmakers passed an elected school board bill Wednesday that could fundamentally change how the nation’s third largest school system operates.

The Illinois House on Wednesday evening passed a compromise bill, already approved by the Senate, in a 70 to 41 vote. Under the bill, Chicago would have a partly elected, partly appointed board in 2025 and a fully elected board in 2027.

The vote was a major defeat for Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who strongly opposed the bill.

As she made her closing argument for the bill, Delia Ramirez (D-Chicago), the House sponsor, urged lawmakers to take “final action.”