EMILYs List Endorses Congresswoman Lauren Underwood for Reelection in Illinois’ 14th CD

For Immediate Release
March 26, 2021

EMILYs List Endorses Congresswoman Lauren Underwood for Reelection in Illinois’ 14th Congressional District

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Congresswoman Lauren Underwood for reelection in Illinois’ 14th Congressional District. Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement:

“EMILYs List is very proud to endorse Illinois Congresswoman Lauren Underwood. The youngest African American woman to serve in the House of Representatives, Lauren serves as a crucial voice for her constituents and women of color across the country. A registered nurse, Underwood’s legislation to lower health care costs premiums for millions of Americans recently became law as part of the American Rescue Plan. As a co-chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, she has sponsored critical legislation to end preventable maternal mortality in the United States and close gaps in maternal health outcomes. Congresswoman Underwood’s leadership is essential in Congress, and we are proud to continue to support her.”

Lauren Underwood is a registered nurse with hands-on experience in our health care system who has dedicated her career to expanding all Americans’ access to quality, affordable care. President Obama appointed Lauren to serve as a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she helped communities across the country prevent, prepare for, and respond to disasters, bioterror threats, and public health emergencies. Prior to her election to Congress, she worked for a Medicaid-managed health care plan in Chicago, helping clinical staff ensure the plan provides high-quality, cost-efficient care to Illinois families. Illinois’ 14th Congressional District had never before been represented by a woman or a Black representative in Congress until Lauren became the first with her historic 2018 victory. She lives in Naperville, Illinois — the community where she is proud to have grown up and attended public schools.

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect Democratic pro-choice women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 157 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.