Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi was elected to Congress in 2016 and represents Illinois’ 8th District, which includes Chicago’s west and northwest suburbs as well as the 41st ward of the city. 

 

He serves as Ranking Member of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, making him the first South Asian American in history to lead a Congressional Committee. He also serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services. The Congressman is a Vice-Chair of the Equality Caucus and Co-Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Immigration Task Force. In addition, he is the founder and Chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus to End Youth Vaping and the bipartisan Solar Caucus.

 

Representative Krishnamoorthi is the child of immigrants and was raised in Peoria, Illinois. He has described himself as a public servant who has spent his life standing up to bullies and a proud product of public housing, food stamps, and Illinois public schools.  He was a valedictorian of his high school class. Scholarships and student loans allowed him to graduate summa cum laude from Princeton University with a degree in mechanical engineering and a certificate from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. He then graduated with honors from Harvard Law School and clerked for a federal judge before practicing law in Chicago.

 

In May 2025, Representative Krishnamoorthi announced his bid for the United States Senate seat in Illinois upon the retirement of Senator Richard Durbin.