Eric Sorensen ( ; born March 18, 1976) is an American

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

serving as the U.S. representative from since 2023. His district covers a large swath of western and central Illinois, centered around Moline, Rock Island, and the Illinois side of the

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of five cities (originally Tri-Cities, later four, see #History, History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport, Iowa, Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, Bettendorf (the fifth to be included) in southeaster ...

. It also includes large slices of Peoria and Rockford. A member of the Democratic Party, Sorensen is the first

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

member of Congress from Illinois.

Early life and career

Sorensen was born in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...

. He graduated from

Boylan Catholic High School Boylan Central Catholic High School is a private Catholic high school located in Rockford, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1960, Boylan is the only Catholic high school in the city. At the start of the 20102011 school year, there were 1187 st ...

and then studied communications and

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

. Sorensen began his career as a meteorologist at

KTRE KTRE (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Lufkin, Texas, United States, affiliated with ABC and Telemundo. The station is owned by Gray Media, and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on TV Road (near US 69) in the unincorpora ...

, the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

affiliate in

Lufkin, Texas Lufkin is the largest city in Angelina County, Texas, United States and is the county seat. The city is situated in Deep East Texas and is west of the Texas- Louisiana state line. Its population is 34,143 as of 2020. Lufkin was founded in 188 ...

, from 1999 to 2000 before moving to

Tyler, Texas Tyler, officially the City of Tyler, is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the population is 105,995. Tyler was the List of municipalities in Texas, 38th most populous city in Texas (as well as the m ...

, where he was the morning meteorologist for ''East Texas News Daybreak'', which aired on both

KLTV KLTV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Tyler, Texas, United States, serving East Texas as an affiliate of ABC and Telemundo. Owned by Gray Media, the station maintains studios on West Ferguson Street in downtown Tyler (between the ...

and KTRE-TV. He worked as chief meteorologist for

WREX WREX (channel 13) is a television station in Rockford, Illinois, United States, affiliated with NBC. Owned by Allen Media Group, it is the market's only full-power VHF station and is Rockford's second oldest television station. WREX's studios a ...

, Rockford's

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

affiliate, from 2003 to 2014, before becoming the senior meteorologist for

WQAD WQAD-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Moline, Illinois, United States, serving the Quad Cities area as an affiliate of American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Park 16th Street i ...

, the ABC affiliate of

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in the 2020 census, it is the largest city in Rock Island County and the List of municipalities in Illinois, ninth-most populous in Illinois outside ...

. Sorensen became a fellow of the Society for Environmental Journalists in 2018. Sorensen retired from television in 2021. Afterwards, he took a job in communications for

UnityPoint Health UnityPoint Health is a hospital network in the U.S. states of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Prior to 2013, portions of the current network were known as the Iowa Health System. History The system began in 1993, when Iowa Lutheran Hospital a ...

before announcing his run for Congress.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2022

With Cheri Bustos not seeking re-election, Sorensen declared his candidacy for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for in the

2022 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2022. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2022 United Nations Security Council election * 2022 national electoral calendar * 2022 local e ...

on November 10, 2021, as a member of the Democratic Party. He defeated Esther Joy King, the Republican nominee, in the November 8, 2022, general election. Upon taking office in January 2023, Sorensen became only the second Democrat since 1927 to represent a significant portion of Peoria, and the second since the 1850s to represent a significant portion of Rockford.

2024

In the 2024 election, Sorensen defeated Republican nominee Joseph McGraw with 54.4% of the vote.

Tenure

Sorensen was sworn into office on January 7, 2023, as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for Illinois’s 17th congressional district. During the

118th Congress The 118th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January ...

, he was appointed to the

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and Science, Space, and Technology committees. In May of his first year, Sorensen introduced the Stop Games Act, legislation aimed at lowering drug costs by allowing the

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

to reject fake citizen petitions used by pharmaceutical companies to delay approval of

generic drugs A generic drug is a pharmaceutical drug that contains the same chemical substance as a drug that was originally protected by chemical patents. Generic drugs are allowed for sale after the patents on the original drugs expire. Because the active ch ...

. In July, he secured the inclusion of $4.6 million for six

Central Illinois Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central third of the state, divided from north to south. Also known as the ''Heart of Illinois'', it is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. Agri ...

infrastructure projects, ranging from flood mitigation to housing and water system upgrades, in two appropriations bills. In October, he co-introduced the bipartisan Upper Mississippi River Levee Safety Act to give local levee districts more flexibility in managing flood protections along the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. In March 2024, Sorensen secured $123 million for western Illinois infrastructure projects, including water main repairs, road improvements, and river navigation upgrades. In April, he co-introduced the bipartisan ONSHORE Act to help communities attract manufacturing investment by establishing a federal grant program to prepare undeveloped sites for strategically important industries. In 2025, Sorensen was one of 46 House Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for the

Laken Riley Act The Laken Riley Act is a United States law that requires the detention, without Bail, bond, of Illegal immigration to the United States, illegal immigrants admitting to, charged with, or convicted of theft-related crimes, assaulting a police of ...

Committee assignments

Sorensen's committee assignments for the

119th Congress The 119th United States Congress is the current term of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened on January 3, 2025, for th ...

include: * Committee on Agriculture ** Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology ** Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit * Committee on Armed Services ** Subcommittee on Readiness ** Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces

Caucus memberships

Sorensen's caucus memberships include: *

Congressional Equality Caucus The Congressional Equality Caucus, formerly the Congressional LGBTQ+ Caucus, was formed by openly gay representatives Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank on June 4, 2008, to advance LGBT+ rights. The caucus is chaired by the most senior openly ...

(co-chair) *

New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily liberals and centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a liberal-to-moderate approach to fiscal matte ...

* Heartland Caucus

Personal life

Sorensen is the first openly gay person to be elected to Congress from Illinois. He lives with his partner in Moline.

Electoral history

2022

2024

References

External links

Congressman Eric Sorensen
official U.S. House website
Eric Sorensen for Illinois
campaign website * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sorensen, Eric 1976 births 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century Illinois politicians American gay politicians American television weather presenters Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois LGBTQ members of the United States Congress LGBTQ people from Illinois Living people Northern Illinois University alumni People from Moline, Illinois Politicians from Rockford, Illinois 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Early life and career

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2022

2024

Tenure

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Personal life

Electoral history

2022

2024

See also

References

External links