Chicago, IL – Before a crowd of nearly 200 people, Daniel Biss announced Carlos Ramirez-Rosa as his running mate and choice for lieutenant governor at a rally in Logan Square tonight.
"In this election, we have the chance to change the fundamental direction of our state by putting middle class and working families first," said Ramirez-Rosa. "But if we're going to transform our state, we can't replace one billionaire with another billionaire."
"The best candidate to fight for our middle class and working families is the one who knows them best—because he lives their lives. It's the one who has a proven record of fighting for them every year, not just in election years. The one who thinks healthcare is a right, not an option. Only a candidate who meets these criteria is ready to be the Democratic nominee for governor of Illinois and move our state towards a new progressive future. And that candidate is Daniel Biss."
"We're at a defining moment for our party and our state," said Biss. "In this moment, we need someone who is a community organizer and who believes in grassroots politics, not just as a campaign tool but as a model of governance. And most importantly, someone who is a progressive in their core. Someone who is unafraid to take on power, and unashamed to stand with the middle class and working families of Illinois. Someone who represents a new generation of Democrats, a generation ready to throw out the old machine playbook and set a new direction for Illinois—to fight for the rest of us. In this moment, we have to seize our opportunity to get it right."
The grandson of immigrants and the son of educators, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa is a lifelong Illinoisan. As a community organizer, congressional caseworker, and now alderman of Chicago’s 35th Ward, Ramirez-Rosa has worked to put middle class and working families first.
As a community organizer with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Carlos worked to keep families safe from deportation and win President Obama’s historic executive action on immigration. As a congressional caseworker in the office of U.S. Congressman Luis Gutierrez, Carlos helped seniors, veterans, and families cut through government red tape as he streamlined the delivery of constituent services.
On the Chicago City Council, Carlos has fought to make sure city resources benefit local neighborhoods instead of big corporations. Carlos has successfully led legislative efforts to win property tax relief for working class homeowners, paid sick leave for Chicago workers, equality for transgender people in public facilities, and accountability and transparency on municipal financial transactions.
Carlos is the first openly gay Latino elected to the Chicago City Council. In 2016, he was a delegate for Senator Bernie Sanders. He is a proud graduate of the Chicago Public Schools and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
A livestream of the rally is available on Facebook.
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