Center for Racial
& Gender Equity

Marie Newman is a Chicago native and community advocate running for U.S. Congress to advance racial, gender, and economic justice in Illinois’ 3rd district. For more than 15 years, the interests of her fellow constituents have been actively undermined by the district’s Democratic incumbent, U.S. Representative Dan Lipinski. Since assuming office, he has aggressively resisted grassroots demands for criminal justice reform and police accountability, by backing measures that would fuel the nation’s devastating “war-on-drugs” and further propel racialized mass incarceration. Lipinski also voted against President Obama’s momentous Affordable Care Act, and has supported Republican’s dangerous proposals to cut critical economic security programs, such as Medicare and Social Security.

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Newman, by contrast, has vowed to champion policies that foster economic security, community safety, and meaningful reform of the nation’s racialized court and prison systems. If elected, Newman would advocate for crucial economic justice measures that benefit middle and low income households, such as universal childcare, tuition-free college, and Medicare for All. She would also work to dismantle the nation’s inhumane and racially targeted system of mass incarceration, by backing legislation to abolish cash bail, outlaw private prisons, and enact assertive sentencing reform. Moreover, Newman’s policy platform features critical workers rights measures, including a $15 federal minimum wage, mandatory paid leave, an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and enhanced federal protections for labor unions.