• Press Release

EMILYs List Congratulates Nikki Budzinski on Advancing to the General Election for Illinois’ 13th Congressional District

March 19, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, congratulates Rep. Nikki Budzinski on advancing to the general election for Illinois’ 13th Congressional District. EMILYs List President Jessica Mackler released the following statement:

“Rep. Nikki Budzinski’s dedication to Illinoisans shines through every part of her work in Congress, and she has been a staunch advocate for the fundamental freedoms Americans hold dear. EMILYs List is proud to support her because we know this pro-choice champion will always fight for us.”

Rep. Nikki Budzinski is a proven leader and an experienced public servant who serves in Congress to build on her life’s work of improving the lives of workers. Born in Peoria, Illinois, Rep. Budzinski is the granddaughter of a union painter and a public school teacher. She attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and was inspired to pursue a career in public service after interning with former Rep. Dick Gephardt, former Sen. Paul Simon, and Planned Parenthood. She has worked to protect firefighters’ rights with the IAFF and has fought for grocery workers and meatpackers with the UFCW. As Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s senior advisor on labor issues, she successfully led the charge to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by bringing workers, small businesses, and elected officials to the negotiating table. Most recently, she served as chief of staff for President Biden’s Office of Management and Budget, and helped implement the American Rescue Plan and helped get the Made in America Office off the ground. She is proud to serve on the House Agriculture Committee and the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. EMILYs List initially supported Budzinski in her first run for Congress in 2022.

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, works to elect Democratic pro-choice women up and down the ballot and across the country with a goal of fighting for our rights and our communities. Our work is centered around a fundamental vision: Run. Win. Change the World. EMILYs List has raised $850 million in service to that vision and has helped Democratic women win competitive elections by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running one of the largest independent expenditure operations for Democrats, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country’s first woman as vice president, 175 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 20 governors, and over 1,500 women to state and local office. More than 40% of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Visit www.emilyslist.org for more information.