Celina Villanueva is a Democratic member of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state, State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adop ...

representing the 12th district. She previously served in 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 current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

for the 21st district from her appointment in July 2018 to her appointment to the Illinois Senate on January 7, 2020.

Early life and career

Villanueva worked as a youth engagement manager at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. She is an alumna of the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

where she earned a B.A in Latina/Latino Studies with minors in African-American Studies and Spanish. She was a speaker at the

2018 Women's March The 2018 Women's March was a global protest that occurred on January 20, 2018, on the anniversary of the 2017 Women's March. About In 2018, women's groups across the United States coordinated mass rallies, attracting hundreds of thousands of ...

in Chicago. She is considered a political ally of Cook County Commissioner Chuy García for whom she worked as an outreach director. Villanueva was appointed to the Illinois House of Representatives on July 24, 2018, to replace

Silvana Tabares Silvana Tabares (born January 7, 1979) is a member of the Chicago City Council from the 23rd ward. Prior to her June 15, 2018 appointment to the City Council, she had served in the Illinois House of Representatives representing the 21st district ...

, who in turn had been appointed to fill a vacancy as alderman of Chicago's 23rd Ward. The appointment was conducted by a panel of local Democratic leaders chaired by Senator

Steven Landek Steven M. Landek (born December 23, 1955) is a member of the Illinois Senate representing the 12th district since his appointment in 2011. The 12th district includes all or parts of Bridgeview, Burbank, Bedford Park, McCook, Brookfield, Rive ...

, the Committeeman from Lyons Township. Villanueva was one of five candidates, who included: Carlos Aparicio, Chief of Staff for Cook County Commissioner

Jeff Tobolski Jeff Tobolski is a former member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, who represented the 16th district which includes all or parts of the suburbs Franklin Park, Northlake, Stone Park, Melrose Park, Maywood, Hillside, Westchester, Br ...

; John Chojnacki, law enforcement instructor at

Calumet College of St. Joseph Calumet College of St. Joseph (or, Calumet College) is a private Roman Catholic college in Whiting, Indiana. It was founded in 1951 as an extension of Saint Joseph's College and is associated with the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. In fal ...

; Sergio Rodriguez, Mayor of Summit; and Myra Ortiz, Village Trustee in Summit.

Political career

Villanueva was sworn into the Illinois House of Representatives on July 24, 2018, immediately after her appointment to fill a vacancy. That vacancy arose when sitting Rep.

was appointed to fill a Chicago City Council vacancy caused by the resignation of Ald. Michael Zalewski. Villanueva won re-election unopposed in the November 2018 election. During her first term, Villanueva was a leader in pushing for a bill that limit how much public agencies in Illinois could cooperate with

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration tha ...

. In November 2019, Villaneuva launched a campaign to replace resigning Illinois State Senator

Martin Sandoval Martin A. Sandoval (January 12, 1964 – December 5, 2020) was an American Democratic politician and senator for Illinois who admitted guilt to corruption charges in 2020.. Contains PDF and text links to the plea agreement and charges against ...

. On January 7, 2020, Villaneuva was appointed to become state senator of the 11th district, after Sandoval's resignation amid a corruption probe. As of July 2022, Senator Villanueva was a member of the following Illinois Senate committees: * Appropriations - Higher Education Committee (SAPP-SAHE) * Appropriations - Human Services Committee (SAPP-SAHS) * Higher Education Committee (SCHE) * (Chairwoman of) Human Rights Committee (SHUM) * Labor Committee (SLAB) * (Co-chairwoman of) Labor - Special Issues Committee (SLAB-SLSI) * Public Safety Committee (SPUB) * Redistricting - Chicago South Committee (SRED-SRCS) * Transportation Committee (STRN)

Personal life

Villanueva is a resident of

Little Village Little Village was an American/British rock band, formed in 1991 by Ry Cooder (guitar, vocal), John Hiatt (guitar, piano, vocal), Nick Lowe (bass, vocal) and Jim Keltner (drums). Each of the group's members had previously worked on Hiatt's 1987 ...

Electoral history

References

External links

Profile
at

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 181 ...

official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Villanueva, Celina 21st-century American legislators 21st-century American women politicians Date of birth missing (living people) Democratic Party Illinois state senators Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Illinois Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Living people American politicians of Mexican descent Hispanic and Latino American people in Illinois politics Politicians from Chicago University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Women state legislators in Illinois Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Illinois politicians