“Lauren Underwood’s tenure in Congress has been defined by her laser-focused commitment on bringing down costs and protecting Illinoisans’ health care. And in turn she’s proven to hard-working families across Illinois’ 14th Congressional District that they can count on her to work with anyone to deliver for them. Her clear-eyed focus on addressing our toughest challenges – from making life more affordable to keeping our communities safe – is in direct contrast to her out-of-touch opponent Scott Gryder, and voters will send her back to Congress in November,” said DCCC Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney.
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To: Interested Parties
From: Elena Kuhn, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: June 28, 2022
Subject: The Case For Lauren Underwood
Tonight’s election results confirm what National Republicans have known for months – their unimpressive and extreme slate of candidates have failed to offer a credible challenge and have no chance come November. That’s certainly true of Scott Gryder, who just barely emerged from a dumpster fire of a GOP primary full of weak, out-of-touch candidates.
Gryder fits right in with the bunch as a supporter of a nationwide abortion ban, a position made even more extreme after the Supreme Court dangerously rolled back women’s right to make their own reproductive health care decisions. Gryder is also decidedly out of step with working families of Illinois, staunchly supporting the GOP tax scam to give tax cuts to the corporations and the wealthy while exploding our national debt and leaving behind Illinois’ working families.
It’s a record that stands in stark contrast to the steady, solutions-oriented leadership championed by Congresswoman Lauren Underwood during her past two terms in Congress. While Gryder has been focused on the issues that divide us, Rep. Underwood has fought hard for the kitchen table priorities that make the difference for Illinois families.
Underwood was proudly raised in Naperville and has carried the middle-class values she grew up with as she’s made change in Washington. As a former nurse and senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, she knows the struggles Illinois families are facing and is working every day to make life more affordable for her constituents. In Congress, she’s been a champion for lowering health care costs and prescription drug prices. She has led legislation that has been signed into law that lowers health care premiums and insulin costs and has been a fierce advocate for lowering prescription costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies.
She knows that it’s not enough to have an economy that creates jobs; we need an economy that creates good-paying jobs, so that working families aren’t just getting by, but thriving. That’s why she’s written legislation that would create more manufacturing jobs in Illinois and secured infrastructure funding that will improve our roads and bridges while creating good-paying jobs.
Congresswoman Underwood also has made keeping IL-14 communities safe a top priority, voting to provide law enforcement with more training and resources to deal with the difficult situations they are called to respond to.
When it comes to putting hard-working families first to lower costs and keep communities safe, Lauren Underwood’s tenure in Congress speaks for itself – and it’s why Illinoians will re-elect her in November to continue fighting for their priorities.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Chicago Sun Times: Rep. Lauren Underwood leading drive to bolster swing district Democrats on Obamacare subsidies [Chicago Sun Times, 5/24/22]
NBC Chicago: With Gas Prices Soaring, New Legislation Would Provide Rebate Checks to Americans [NBC Chicago, 3/22/22]
Shaw Local News: Sandwich police to upgrade squad car dash cameras; body cameras coming soon [Shaw Local News, 6/7/22]
“The Sandwich Police Department expects to receive $120,459 in federal funding for upgrading the camera systems and data storage units in the department’s squad cars, with body cameras for officers to come soon after.
U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, has helped the department secure funding through the Community Project Funding program.”
Washington Post: The first ‘Momnibus’ bill was signed into law. Other strides for Black maternal health could follow. [Washington Post, 12/6/22]
“Last Tuesday, nearly 17 months after the Momnibus was unveiled, the first bill from the package was signed into law by President Biden: the Protecting Moms Who Served Act, which puts $15 million into boosting maternity care for military veterans. The bill’s co-sponsors included 41 Democrats and two Republicans.”
Chicago Magazine: Lauren Underwood’s Long Game [Chicago Magazine, 8/3/21]
“After flipping Illinois’s 14th District — a predominantly white swath of suburbs that favored Donald Trump in 2016 by 4 percentage points — three years ago and then prevailing again in 2020 in a bitterly contested race against a wealthy Trump-aligned conservative, she has emerged as one of the Democratic caucus’s rising stars, and one of the few members of Congress whose education trained them for a solidly middle-class profession like nursing.”
PATH TO VICTORY
Illinois’ 14th Congressional District improved 7 percentage points under its new lines and is a district President Biden would have won with 55% of the vote. This suburban and well-educated district maintained Naperville and now includes Democratic-leaning Joliet as key sources of Democratic support. After redistricting, this district also got more diverse with approximately a 6 percent increase in both African American and Hispanic registered voters. Roll Call reports “Republican strategists aren’t particularly excited about Illinois’ 14th District” and “don’t have confidence in their candidates.” Roll Call and Cook Political Report rate this seat as “likely Democratic.”
Thanks to the strong campaign Lauren Underwood has built, which includes banking over $2.4 million cash on hand – a warchest that will prove especially valuable in the expensive Chicago media market – Democrats will keep this seat in the blue column in November.
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