She Runs Illinois 2024! — Dagmara “Dee” Avelar, candidate for IL House of Representatives, District 85
She Votes Illinois is pleased to feature Dagmara “Dee” Avelar, incumbent, running for IL House of Representatives, District 85. Follow our series, She Runs Illinois 2024!, leading up to election day as we showcase and uplift the voices of Illinois women running for public office in the upcoming election, November 5, 2024.
Tell us about yourself
My name is Dagmara “Dee” Avelar, and I decided to run for office because I was inspired by the number of first-time candidates, particularly women of color.
Will County has been my home, primarily the Bolingbrook and Romeoville areas, since 2001. This is the district that welcomed me with open arms when my family decided to immigrate from Ecuador to the United States.
For over a decade, I have dedicated my life to advocating for working families particularly focusing on projects addressing the barriers of low-income, limited English proficient Illinois residents. A community organizer at heart, I have been involved in civic engagement efforts to get out the vote of low-propensity voters in the southwest suburbs since I was in college.
Prior to my role as an elected official, I was the Director of Programs at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) and worked directly with 59 community-based organizations across the state of Illinois to address barriers to citizenship as well as language access primarily for immigrants and refugees. In 2020 I became the first formerly undocumented woman to be sworn in to the IL General Assembly.
What are your top three legislative priorities you intend to focus on in office?
As the State Representative for the 85th district, my focus during my third term in office will be to continue advocating for healthcare accessibility, affordable housing, and economic opportunity.
What standards or criteria do you use to determine effective legislation, and how do you incorporate constituent input in the policymaking process?
During each spring session, hundreds of bills come across my desk and I need to determine if I should vote for each bill. One of my guiding principles is thinking about the people of the 85th district. Does this serve the people of the 85th district? Will this improve their lives or make their lives easier? The only way to ensure that I have the best interests of my community is to be active in it and listen.
Does the national environment impact the legislation you would advocate for in Illinois regarding reproductive freedom and healthcare?
Like many women, I was devastated when I found out that Roe was overturned by the Supreme Court. For the first time in a generation instead of expanding the rights of women, we are seeing them taken away by an overzealous Supreme Court. Shortly afterwards I was appointed to the Reproductive Health and Dobbs Decision working group whose main goal was to protect the reproductive freedoms of women in Illinois. After months of meeting and deliberating we were able to pass legislation that not only would protect women but also help women from other states receive the care that they deserve. Unfortunately, the work did not stop there this year in preparation for another possible blow to reproductive rights I passed legislation that would enshrine the right to access emergency reproductive care. Ideally, I would like to spend more of my time expanding healthcare but I often find myself having to defend the rights and freedoms that we currently have.
What steps are you advocating for to improve accessibility, safety, and affordability of public transportation, especially for women in Illinois?
As someone who has been a lifelong advocate for public transportation safety, accessibility, and affordability have always been top of mind. Safety specifically is something that often dissuades many women from using public transit. One big thing that I advocate for is increasing the frequency and reliability of public transit which reduces wait time and lowers the possibility of harassment or harm. When it comes to accessibility I believe that as a state we should be looking at opportunities to expand public transportation so that our suburbs are more connected. Expanding frequency, reliability, and services will allow for more users who will ultimately lower prices.
What groups of women (by ethnicity, race, LGBTQ+ status, disability, age, or similar) are most frequently “left out” of conversations by your fellow legislators and what are you doing to change that dynamic? How can the ILGA better serve these women?
Illinois is fortunate to have a legislature where a majority of Democratic lawmakers are women, which helps ensure that many of the issues women face are front and center. Even more importantly, we recognize that intersectionality is key to achieving real, lasting change. The strength of our legislative body lies in its diversity — teachers, healthcare workers, service and warehouse workers, attorneys, and others all bring their unique lived experiences to the table. This variety has led to a greater focus on people-centered legislation that reflects the needs of our communities.
However, there’s still more work to be done. We can continue to improve by making sure that those most directly impacted by the policies we discuss — whether they are women of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, or workers in vulnerable sectors — have a seat at the table and their voices heard. By doing so, we can create policies that truly reflect the diverse needs and experiences of all Illinoisans.
Closing comments (Suggestions include: Tell us why someone should vote for you, the impact you want to have on the community, your goals for the district/state. Final thoughts.)
When I decided to run for office our nation was in the middle of the fight against fascism and a rise in racism that the Trump administration brought upon us. We marched, protested, did advocacy work with our elected officials, and worked tirelessly to shift the environment and narrative to save our democracy. I came to Springfield to be a champion for working families, young people, seniors, and those who time and time again are disenfranchised.
My time as an elected official has only shown me that we still have a lot of work to do. It has also shown me that the best tools we have to create change are to build long-lasting coalitions that keep us united in working toward a world that provides true social, economic, environmental, and racial justice.
If you would like to learn more about Dagmara “Dee” Avelar and her platform or volunteer for her campaign, please check out her website at votedee85.com. Don’t forget to follow her on social media @deeforil85. Reach out today and help make a difference in the upcoming 2024 election.
(The information contained in this post is provided only as general information and does not imply an endorsement by She Votes Illinois.)
