Aarón M. Ortíz is a lifelong resident of Gage Park and the current State Representative of the 1st District. Aarón is a former educator and college counselor at Back of the Yards High School, a Chicago Public School. As the first in his family to attend college, he graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning. It was during Aarón’s time in college that he began to think about how important government and community development was in his community.
A son of immigrants from Nuevo Ideal, Durango, Mexico, Aarón represents the makeup of the 1st district. Aarón is a parishioner of St. Clare of Montefalco Church. He attended Nightingale Elementary and Brother Rice High School. His experiences growing up on the Southside of Chicago have guided him in his work helping students at Back of the Yards high school think about their post-graduation future and now as a State Representative.
Aarón is a former educator and proud union member of the Chicago Teachers Union & SEIU Local 73. He is a former high school soccer coach and still coaches on a volunteer basis. He previously served on the Local School Council for Back of the Yards College Prep High School.
As your State Representative, I commit to:
#1 |
Bring Good Paying Jobs & Resources to Our District |
#2 |
Keep Our Families Safe & Protected |
#3 |
Fully Fund Our Public Schools |
“I trust Aarón to fight for us in Springfield. He is the result of our families’ hard work to achieve the American Dream. Let’s send him to Springfield as your new State Representative of the 1st District.” - Jesus "Chuy" Garcia
In 2015, Aarón worked diligently to elect Jesus “Chuy” Garcia as a candidate for mayor. This sparked in Aarón both a frustration with his community's lack adequate representation and his willingness to engage in the hard work of local politics.
In 2016 he collaborated with students to create the Back of the Yards High School undocumented and allies student group. This was in line with Aarón's sense of setting a path for other immigrant children to graduation and post-secondary education opportunities. He participated in a leadership fellowship with United Working Families and Grassroots Illinois Action on political empowerment. With his involvement with these organizations, he came to understand how progressive politics citywide merged with the longstanding independent progressive work of Chuy Garcia.
In 2017, with the support of Chuy Garcia, the Chicago Teachers Union, and United Working Families, Aarón launched his campaign for State Representative of the 1st District. Aarón embarked on a thorough listening tour of his district were he knocked on thousands of doors and weaved his way through every block in the district, multiple times.
In 2018 Aarón defeated long-time incumbent State Representative Dan Burke, the younger brother of 14th Ward Alderman Ed Burke, with over 400 more votes than the long-time Representative.
In 2019 he was sworn in as the State Representative of the 1st District. At the time of his inauguration, Aarón Ortíz was the youngest State Representative in Illinois at 27 years of age.
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