Lauren Underwood

2018

In August 2017, Underwood announced her candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in Illinois's 14th congressional district.^[14] Her platform focused on improving the Affordable Care Act, expanding job opportunities, infrastructure improvements, and paid family leave.^[10] She won the March 20 Democratic primary with 57% of the vote against 6 opponents.^[15]

In the general election, Underwood faced incumbent Republican Randy Hultgren. In a public debate, Underwood, who has a heart condition, said that she had decided to run for the seat because Hultgren voted to repeal the ACA. Hultgren voted in favor of the Republican American Health Care Act, which passed the House in 2017 but not the Senate and would have repealed and replaced the ACA.

Underwood said the repeal-and-replace bill would have taken away the right of "individuals like me with preexisting conditions to have affordable coverage" and that people like her would either be denied coverage or charged more. Hultgren said the bill would have protected such people because although it would have allowed states to charge people with preexisting conditions more, they would be eligible for subsidies.^[16]

Underwood said that healthcare is "a human right" and that single-payer/universal coverage/Medicare for All was "a great goal" but would have to wait until there are concrete answers to questions about costs.^[17] Hultgren ran TV ads stating that Underwood supports a single-payer plan.^[18]

Former president Barack Obama and vice president Joe Biden endorsed Underwood. In the November 6 election,^[19] she defeated Hultgren with 52.5% of the vote.^[20]

2020

Underwood was reelected over state senator Jim Oberweis, in the ninth-closest race of the House 2020 election cycle.^[21] Following early returns, Oberweis claimed victory prior to the official declaration as to the winner.^[22] Nine days following voting, on November 12, the Associated Press called the election for Underwood.^[23] Oberweis unsuccessfully challenged the result.^[24]

2022

Underwood ran for reelection in 2022 in the 14th district after its lines were dramatically adjusted following redistricting.^[25] She won the election with 54% of the vote.^[26]

2024

Underwood ran for reelection in 2024 in the 14th district against Republican Jim Marter. She won the election with 55% of the vote.^[27]

2026

Underwood was unopposed in the 2026 Democratic primary.^[28] In the November general election she faces Republican Jim Marter, the party's 2024 nominee, who won the Republican primary over Gary Vician.^[28][29] The Cook Political Report has rated the race as a Solid Democratic seat.^[30]

Leadership

In December 2022, Underwood was elected co-chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) for the 118th Congress, along with Veronica Escobar and Dean Phillips.^[38] She was reelected co-chair in November 2024 for the 119th Congress, serving under DPCC chair Debbie Dingell with co-chairs Lori Trahan and Maxwell Frost.^[39] In February 2025, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Suzan DelBene named Underwood one of the committee's three recruitment co-chairs for the 2026 election cycle, alongside Jason Crow and Morgan McGarvey.^[40]

Health care

A major focus for Underwood in Congress has been health care, including coverage affordability and disparities in maternal health outcomes.^[41] In 2019, she introduced the Health Care Affordability Act to expand eligibility for the premium tax credits that subsidize Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage, presenting it as an alternative to Medicare for All, which she declined to cosponsor.^[42] A version of the bill was enacted as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and the enhanced credits were extended through 2025 by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.^[43] The enhanced credits expired at the end of 2025 after Congress did not renew them during the 2025 United States federal government shutdown. Underwood opposed the Senate agreement that ended the shutdown because it did not include an extension.^[44] On January 8, 2026, the House passed her bill to extend the credits for three years by a vote of 230 to 196, after a discharge petition signed by House Democrats and four Republicans forced a floor vote.^[45]

In April 2019, Underwood and Representative Alma Adams founded the Black Maternal Health Caucus, and in 2020 they introduced the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, a package of bills addressing maternal mortality and racial disparities in maternal health outcomes.^[41][46][47] The first of the bills to become law, the Protecting Moms Who Served Act, which directed the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve maternity care coordination for veterans and to study maternal mortality among veterans, was signed by President Biden on November 30, 2021.^[47] Underwood and Senator Cory Booker reintroduced the package as 14 separate bills in March 2026.^[48] In July 2026, the House unanimously passed her NIH IMPROVE Act, a Momnibus bill that Underwood introduced with Republican Brian Fitzpatrick that authorizes National Institutes of Health research on maternal mortality.^[49][50]