Edgar González Jr. is a Democratic member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

for the 23rd District. The 23rd District includes all or parts of the Chicago neighborhoods of

South Lawndale South Lawndale is a community area on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. Over 80% of the residents are of Mexican descent and the community is home to the largest foreign-born Mexican population in Chicago. The community is home to two dist ...

, Brighton Park, and

North Lawndale North Lawndale is one of the 77 community areas of the city of Chicago, Illinois, located on its West Side. The area contains the K-Town Historic District, the Foundation for Homan Square, the Homan Square interrogation facility, and the gr ...

along with the nearby suburb of

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

Early life and education

Edgar Gonzalez Jr. was born and raised in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, two blocks away from

Cook County Jail The Cook County Jail, located on in South Lawndale, Chicago, Illinois, is operated by the Sheriff of Cook County. It is sometimes referred to as ''California'' or ''Hotel California'', as its address is on California Avenue. A city jail has e ...

. A son of working-class immigrants from

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, his father is currently an

IUOE The International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) is a trade union within the United States–based AFL–CIO representing primarily construction workers who work as heavy equipment operators, mechanics, surveying, surveyors, and stationary en ...

Local 399 union member, his mother was formerly an SEIU Local 73 union member, and his sister is a current student at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. He attended John Spry Elementary School for preschool and Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy from kindergarten to sixth grade. He enrolled in

Whitney M. Young Magnet High School Whitney M. Young Magnet High School is a public four-year magnet high school and middle school located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Opened on September 3, 1975, as a public magnet high school, joining Lane Tech in that ...

's Academic Center and graduated in 2015. He went on to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in government with a minor in economics in 2019, becoming the first in his family to graduate from college. During his time at Harvard, Gonzalez was a

political cartoonist An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or current ...

for ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1873, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduate students. His ...

'' and a staff writer for the

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, as well as a tutor and translator for

Harvard Student Agencies Harvard Student Agencies, Inc. (HSA) is the largest student-run company in the world, employing more than 600 Harvard undergraduates each year, and paying more than $1.7M in student wages annually. Founded in 1957, HSA is a multimillion-dollar cor ...

. He volunteered his time as a tutor for recent immigrant arrivals in English and subject tutoring at Chelsea High School and

Malden High School Malden High School is a public high school in Malden, Massachusetts, Malden, Massachusetts. Established in 1857, the school is part of the Malden Public Schools and is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). A ...

, and launched a tutoring and mentoring program for at-risk Latinx youth in the Boston area with Roxbury nonprofit Sociedad Latina. On his breaks from school, he interned with Enlace Chicago his freshman summer, the

MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 117 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.6 billion and ...

his sophomore summer, and with 22nd Ward Democratic Committeeman

Michael Rodriguez (politician) Michael D. Rodriguez (born August 31, 1978) is a Chicago politician. He is the alderman of Chicago's 22nd ward and took office as a member of the Chicago City Council in May 2019. He was elected in the 2019 aldermanic election, in an open race to ...

his junior summer. Upon graduation, Gonzalez began working as a constituency services liaison for Congressman

Jesús "Chuy" García Jesus ( AD 30 or 33) was a Jewish preacher and religious leader who most Christians believe to be the incarnation of God and Muslims believe was a prophet. Jesus may also refer to: People Religious figures * Elymas Bar-Jesus, a Jew in the ''Act ...

, specializing in casework and outreach ranging from immigration, social security, and veterans to criminal justice and education.

Political career

Gonzalez was appointed to the Illinois House of Representatives on January 10, 2020, to replace Celina Villanueva, who in turn had been appointed to fill the vacancy of State Senator

Martin Sandoval Martin A. Sandoval (January 12, 1964 – December 5, 2020) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician and Illinois Senate, senator for Illinois who admitted guilt to corruption charges in 2020.. Contains PDF and tex ...

of Illinois's 11th State Senate District. The appointment was conducted by a panel of local Democratic leaders. At the time of his inauguration, Gonzalez was the youngest state representative in Illinois at 23 years of age. He is the youngest Latino state representative and the youngest Democratic state representative to be inaugurated in Illinois's history. Gonzalez was the first member of the Illinois House of Representatives to publicly state he had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in May 2020.

Legislative Work

Gonzalez has championed increasing workplace safety standards, good-paying wages, and strengthening collective bargaining rights for workers in Illinois. In 2021, Gonzalez passed HB2521, which established that it is an unfair labor practice for an employer to threaten or retaliate against an employee for participating in a strike. After the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

and Cook County Health used strikebreakers from COVID hotspot states without requiring them to quarantine, Gonzalez and union representatives worked together to end this decades-old tactic. In 2023, he sponsored the Temp Worker Fairness and Safety Act, which improved conditions for day laborers and temporary workers in the state. The act focused on equal pay for equal work and end the corporate habit of "permatemping" its employees, improved training and worker safety standards, and the right to refuse strike-breaking assignments through notice in a language the worker can understand. As of July 15, 2025, Gonzalez is a member of the following Illinois House committees: * Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, & IT (HCDA) * Ethics & Elections (SHEE) * Gaming (HOGC) * Insurance (HINS) * Judiciary - Criminal (HJUC) * Labor & Commerce (HLBR) * Revenue & Finance (HREF) * Small Business, Tech Innovation (SBTE) * Transportation: Vehicles & Safety (HVES) At the start of the 104th General Assembly, Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch named Gonzalez to serve on his leadership team as an Assistant Majority Leader and Floor Whip for the seventy-eight member Democratic caucus.

Electoral history

References

External links

Representative Edgar Gonzalez Jr. (D)
at the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in ...

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Edgar Jr 1996 births Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Harvard College alumni Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Illinois Living people American politicians of Mexican descent Hispanic and Latino American people in Illinois politics Politicians from Chicago Whitney M. Young Magnet High School alumni 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly