Litesa E. Wallace (born 1978) is an American politician who served as a 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 ...

for the 67th district from August 2014 to January 2019.

Early life and education

Wallace was born in

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

. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. History Western Illin ...

, followed by a Master of Arts in marriage and family counseling and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from Northern Illinois University.

Career

Illinois House of Representatives

Wallace was appointed to the

in August 2014 by the Winnebago County Democratic Party, succeeding Charles E. Jefferson. Wallace had previously served as chief of staff to Jefferson.

2018 Illinois gubernatorial campaign and aftermath

Wallace ran for lieutenant governor of Illinois in the 2018 Democratic primary alongside State Senator

Daniel Biss Daniel Kálmán Biss (born August 27, 1977) is an American mathematician and politician serving as mayor of Evanston, Illinois, Evanston, Illinois. He previously served as a member of both the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate. ...

, replacing Biss's initial pick, Chicago alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa. In a video announcing the joint ticket, Wallace commented that she and Biss had both "fought for childcare assistance, a $15 minimum wage, to expand healthcare, and to make millionaires pay their fair share." Biss and Wallace lost the Democratic primary to J. B. Pritzker and his running mate

Julianna Stratton Juliana Stratton (née Wiggins; born September 8, 1965) is an American lawyer and politician, serving as the 48th lieutenant governor of Illinois since 2019. She previously served as a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives ...

. In the

2020 Democratic presidential primary Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party to select the 3,979 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention held on August 17–20 to determine the party's nomin ...

, Wallace was a supporter of Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign.

2022 congressional election

In November 2021, Wallace declared her candidacy for

Illinois's 17th congressional district The 17th congressional district of Illinois is represented by Democrat Cheri Bustos. It includes most of the northwestern portion of the state, with most of its population living on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities, as well as parts of Peor ...

in the 2022 election.

References

External links

Illinois General Assembly Page

Official Website Rep Litesa Wallace

Litesa Wallace for Congress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Litesa E. 1978 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American state legislators in Illinois African-American women in politics Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Living people Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Northern Illinois University alumni Politicians from Rockford, Illinois Western Illinois University alumni Women state legislators in Illinois