Lauren Underwood breaks barriers and defeats four-term Republican incumbent
10 min
As a child, Lauren Underwood was diagnosed with a heart condition that required her to regularly seek a pediatric cardiologist. She went on to become a registered nurse and spent her career working to expand healthcare coverage.
In the wake of the 2016 election, Donald Trump made it evidently clear that they didn’t want to continue on the progress made in access to healthcare. Republican Randy Hultgren, Underwood’s opponent-to-be, also issued his support for the American Health Care Act—the Republican vehicle for repealing the Affordable Care Act, making it harder for people with preexisting conditions to get health insurance.
In August 2017, Underwood announced her candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in Illinois's 14th congressional district focused on improving the Affordable Care Act, expanding job opportunities, infrastructure improvements, and paid family leave.
She had a vague idea of how to run for office, and after lunch with a friend, together, they launched her campaign with a video and website. Underwood needed to raise $300,000, and had no clue how to hit that fundraising goal with only six weeks left in the quarter. She found NDTC’s Online Academy, and searched through the courses that could help her reach this milestone and further her campaign:
In 2018, Congresswoman Lauren Underwood was the first person of color, first woman, and first millennial elected to represent Illinois’ 14th Congressional District.
She flipped IL-14 from red to blue in a historic fashion in 2018, defeating a four-term Republican incumbent. When she was sworn into office in 2019, she became the youngest Black woman to ever serve in Congress.
Underwood’s successful campaign didn’t just manifest, she trained and used her passion for accessible healthcare to drive and motivate her journey on the campaign trail. NDTC provided an a la carte, free accessible training option in the moment that she could build around her schedule to compete in a district so many people had written off. Her training time with NDTC helped her build the confidence to step in and ask for huge sums of money, as a young person of color.
“NDTC gives people access to information in a time when information is used as a commodity to limit people.”
Lauren Underwood, United States Representative (IL-14)
Fast forward to 2022, Underwood was elected to serve in House Leadership by her colleagues and has had fourteen pieces of legislation signed into law by both Democratic and Republican presidents.
