Ram Villivalam is a

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

member of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the I ...

for the 8th district. The 8th Senate District consists of the Forest Glen, North Park and West Ridge neighborhoods in the

City of Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and the nearby suburbs of Park Ridge, Morton Grove, Niles,

Lincolnwood Lincolnwood (formerly Tessville) is a village in Niles Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 13,463. An inner suburb of Chicago, it shares its southern, eastern, and a small section of its west ...

and Skokie, as of the

decennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saint ...

redistricting following the 2010 United States Census. After

Ira Silverstein Ira I. Silverstein (born October 10, 1960) is a former Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 8th district from 1999 to 2019. The 8th Senate District consists of Forest Glen, North Park and West Ridge in the City of Chicag ...

was accused of sexual misconduct by a lobbyist, Villivalam announced that he would run against Silverstein in the

Democratic primary This is a list of Democratic Party presidential primaries. 1912 This was the first time that candidates were chosen through primaries. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson ran to become the nominee, and faced the opposition of Speaker of the Unit ...

. Villivalam was endorsed by Congresswoman

Jan Schakowsky Janice Schakowsky ( ; née Danoff; born May 26, 1944) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative from since 1999. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is anchored in Chicago's North Side, including mu ...

, Congressman

Brad Schneider Bradley Scott Schneider (born August 20, 1961) is an American businessman and politician who became the U.S. representative for Illinois's 10th congressional district in 2017, previously holding the position from 2013 to 2015. Before he was el ...

, State Senator

Laura Murphy Laura M. Murphy is a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate representing the 28th district since October 2015. The 28th district includes all or parts of Arlington Heights, Bartlett, Bloomingdale, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village Elk Grove ...

, and Chicago Alderman

Ameya Pawar Ameya Pawar (born April 22, 1980) is an American politician who served as the alderman for the 47th Ward of the City of Chicago. He was first elected in the 2011 municipal elections, and was elected to a second term on February 24, 2015. Pawar's ...

. In the March 20, 2018 Democratic primary, Villivalam defeated the incumbent Ira Silverstein by more than 20 points in the first competitive primary the latter had faced since taking the seat. Silverstein resigned a few days before the start of the 101st General Assembly, allowing Villivalam to be sworn on January 5, 2019. Villivalam is the first

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous peopl ...

and first

Indian American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

elected to the Illinois Senate. Prior to joining the Illinois Senate, Villivalam was the former political director for

and former legislative coordinator for SEIU Healthcare-Illinois. In September 2019, Villivalam succeeded Robert Murphy as the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

committeeperson for Chicago's 39th ward. As of July 2022, Senator Villivalam is a member of the following Illinois Senate committees: * (Chairman of) Appropriations - Government Infrastructure Committee (SAPP-SAGI) * Appropriations - Human Services Committee (SENE) * Healthcare Access and Availability Committee (SHAA) * Human Rights Committee (SHUM) * Licensed Activities Committee (SLIC) * Licensed Activities - Special Issues Committee (SLIC-SLSI) * Pensions Committee (SPEN) * (Chairman of) Redistricting - Chicago Northwest Committee (SRED-SRNW) * (Chairman of) Transportation Committee (STRN)

Notes

References

External links

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villivalam, Ram Year of birth missing (living people) American politicians of Indian descent Asian-American state legislators in Illinois 21st-century American politicians Living people Service Employees International Union people Democratic Party Illinois state senators Politicians from Chicago George Washington University alumni