Linda Chapa LaVia (born August 16, 1966) was 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 current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

, representing the 83rd District from 2003 until 2019, when she retired to accept an appointment to the cabinet of Illinois Governor

J.B. Pritzker Jay Robert "J. B." Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American billionaire businessman, philanthropist, and politician serving as the List of governors of Illinois, 43rd governor of Illinois since 2019. A member of the wealthy Pritzker fami ...

. The district covers part of Kane County, including the city of

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

. She was first elected to 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 181 ...

in 2002 defeating Bob O'Connor, an Aurora Alderman-At-Large, becoming the first Hispanic to win a seat in the state legislature outside of

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

. In 2014, Chapa LaVia made racial comments by calling state Representative John Anthony a "half." Anthony is black with Puerto Rican heritage. Chap LaVia later apologized for her remarks on the House floor. In her apology she said, "I want to deeply apologize to my side of the aisle over here, my colleagues, my brothers and sisters for my personality meltdown yesterday." On Tuesday, June 24, 2015, she announced her candidacy for Mayor of

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage, Kane County, Illinois, Kane, Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall, and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Locat ...

However, she did not advance past the Aurora primary. The daughter of Texas cotton pickers, Linda attended

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

and enrolled in the R.O.T.C. program, later graduating and becoming an officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. Chapa LaVia served as a

delegate Delegate or delegates may refer to: * Delegate, New South Wales, a town in Australia * Delegate (CLI), a computer programming technique * Delegate (American politics), a representative in any of various political organizations * Delegate (United ...

to the

2012 Democratic National Convention The 2012 Democratic National Convention was a gathering, held from September 3–6, 2012, at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, in which delegates of the Democratic Party nominated President Barack Obama and Vice Presid ...

. In 2018, Chapa LaVia was appointed to

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

-elect J.B. Pritzker's transition committee on Veterans Affairs. On February 15, 2019, Governor Pritzker announced that Chapa LaVia would be appointed the Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs. Chapa LaVia resigned as Illinois Veterans Affairs director in January, 2021. A 2021 report from the Illinois Department of Human Services' Office of the Inspector General stated that systemic mismanagement by the Illinois Veterans Affairs department led to 36 deaths from

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at the LaSalle Veterans Home. The report specifically called out Chapa LaVia's abdication of her responsibilities. Chapa LaVia, her husband, and two children live in

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Representative Linda Chapa LaVia (D) 83rd District
at the Illinois General Assembly **By session
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at Illinois House Democrats Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives 1966 births Living people People from Aurora, Illinois Military personnel from Illinois Northern Illinois University alumni University of Illinois at Springfield alumni Women state legislators in Illinois 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Illinois {{Illinois-Ilrepresentative-stub