Marie Newman

Marie Newman (née Klassen; born April 13, 1964) is an American politician, marketing consultant, and nonprofit executive who served as the U.S. representative from Illinois’s 3rd congressional district from January 3, 2021, to January 3, 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented a district that encompassed parts of southwestern Chicago and many of its nearby suburbs, including Oak Lawn, Western Springs, and Lockport. Elected as a progressive Democrat, she contributed to the legislative process during one term in office and was known for her advocacy on issues such as abortion rights, gun control, economic justice, and climate policy.

Newman was born Marie Klassen in Evergreen Park, Illinois, on April 13, 1964, at Little Company of Mary Hospital. She grew up in the Chicago suburbs and attended Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park, Illinois. After high school she enrolled at Marquette University, where she studied for a year and a half before transferring to the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a bachelor’s degree, laying the academic foundation for a career that would combine marketing, entrepreneurship, and public service.

Following college, Newman embarked on a career in the private sector, working for multiple firms as an agency executive in marketing and advertising. In 2005 she founded her own consulting firm, where she advised clients on strategic communications and business development. Her professional trajectory took a more explicitly advocacy-oriented turn after one of her children was bullied, prompting her to establish a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating bullying. Her work in this area led Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to appoint her to a regional anti-bullying task force, and Sears Holdings Corporation enlisted her to help create a national anti-bullying coalition that ultimately included about 70 nonprofit organizations. She co-wrote the book When Your Child is Being Bullied, a guide for parents that emphasizes practical steps such as keeping detailed notes of a child’s experiences before approaching school officials, recognizing that children may conceal bullying while at school.

Alongside her business and advocacy work, Newman became increasingly active in Democratic politics. She worked on several Democratic campaigns for public office and, between 2015 and 2017, lobbied for gun control measures, including expanded background checks. During the 2016 election cycle she supported Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary in Illinois and backed Hillary Clinton in the November general election. The day after Clinton’s loss, Newman applied to the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership, signaling a shift toward full-time political engagement. By January 1, 2017, she had closed her consulting business to focus on politics, positioning herself as a progressive challenger to the Democratic establishment.

On April 10, 2017, Newman announced her candidacy for Illinois’s 3rd congressional district, challenging incumbent Democrat Dan Lipinski, a member of the Blue Dog Coalition who had held the seat since 2005, succeeding his father, Bill Lipinski, who had represented the area for 22 years. Running to Lipinski’s left, she campaigned on progressive positions and received endorsements from organizations including the Human Rights Campaign, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Planned Parenthood, EMILY’s List, the SEIU state council, National Nurses United, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Feminist Majority Foundation, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Democracy for America, MoveOn, and Our Revolution, as well as from several Democratic members of Congress, among them Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Representatives Luis Gutiérrez and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois. In the 2018 Democratic primary, Lipinski narrowly defeated her, winning 51.2 percent of the vote to her 48.8 percent. Undeterred, Newman ran again in the 2020 Democratic primary. That year she was endorsed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and by presidential candidates Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, and Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The race drew national attention from progressive women’s groups, particularly after other progressive women had lost primaries earlier in the cycle. On March 17, 2020, Newman narrowly defeated Lipinski with 47.26 percent of the vote to his 44.72 percent, ending the Lipinski family’s 38-year hold on the district, which began when Bill Lipinski was elected in 1982 (then numbered the 5th district, renumbered as the 3rd in 1993). In the November 3, 2020, general election, she defeated Republican Will County Supervisor Mike Fricilone, leading by about 30,000 votes with 88 percent of the vote counted and ultimately receiving about 55 percent of the vote.

Newman took office in the U.S. House of Representatives on January 3, 2021, representing what has long been considered the most conservative of the eight districts that divide Chicago. The 3rd district has been described as “ancestrally Democratic, culturally conservative, multiethnic and viscerally patriotic,” and is the only Chicago-based district with a Cook Partisan Voting Index lower than D+15. Identifying as a progressive Democrat, Newman supported abortion rights, gun control, a $15 minimum wage, and the Green New Deal. Her campaigns in both 2018 and 2020 were backed by Justice Democrats, a national organization that supports progressive challengers, and in 2020 she also received support from the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate advocacy group. During her term, she joined the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the House Pro-Choice Caucus. She served on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, including its Subcommittee on Highways and Transit and Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. She also served on the Committee on Small Business, sitting on the Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce and the Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development. In January 2021 she voted to impeach President Donald Trump following the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and in November 2021 she voted for the Build Back Better Act, a major component of the Biden administration’s domestic agenda, which passed the House of Representatives.

Newman’s congressional tenure was marked by both policy advocacy and ethics scrutiny. In 2021 the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) initiated a review after allegations that, during her 2020 campaign, she had signed a contract promising Iymen Chehade a job in her congressional office in exchange for his agreement not to enter the Democratic primary against her. The alleged agreement also reportedly included commitments that she would adopt specific policy positions on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, including stances on BDS-related legislation, U.S. aid to Israel, and a refusal to work with certain pro-Israel organizations such as the Jewish National Fund. After Newman took office in January 2021 without hiring Chehade, he sued her for breach of contract. The House’s General Counsel, Douglas Letter, argued that the contract, executed when Newman was a private citizen, was not enforceable once she assumed public office, and in a motion to dismiss, her counsel acknowledged that the agreement was inconsistent with House and federal rules. The lawsuit was settled without public disclosure of the terms. On October 15, 2021, the OCE unanimously found reason to believe the agreement constituted a de facto bribe and referred the matter to the House Ethics Committee. Newman’s representatives stated that she cooperated fully with the review but characterized the OCE’s actions as “political theatre” and asserted that the office had “prejudged the matter from the beginning.” The House Ethics Committee ultimately chose not to impanel an investigative subcommittee, and the matter was closed in 2022 after she lost her primary. Separately, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), alleging that payments from Newman’s campaign to Chehade after settlement of his lawsuit—while he was a witness in the congressional ethics probe—improperly interfered with that investigation. Following a full investigation, the FEC dismissed the complaint in July 2023, finding no wrongdoing.

Newman’s path to a second term was complicated by redistricting following the 2020 United States Census. In October 2021, Democrats in the Illinois legislature enacted a new congressional map that significantly altered the 3rd district, placing Newman’s home into a majority-Hispanic district represented by Jesús “Chuy” García. Rather than challenge García in the new 4th district, Newman announced that she would run in the redrawn 6th district, which overlapped much of her original constituency. This decision set up a primary contest with incumbent Representative Sean Casten. According to calculations by Daily Kos, about 41 percent of voters in the new 6th district came from Newman’s former district and 23 percent from Casten’s former district. On June 28, 2022, Newman lost the Democratic primary to Casten, concluding her single term in Congress on January 3, 2023.

After leaving Congress, Newman continued her work in the nonprofit and advocacy sectors. In April 2023 she was appointed chief executive officer of Little City Foundation, a social services organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in northern Illinois. Little City provides residential facilities, day programs, and at-home assistance to more than 900 people. Newman had a longstanding personal connection to the organization, having volunteered there when she was young; two of her cousins received services from Little City. She has also continued to write and speak about her experiences in politics and public life. Her book A Life Made From Scratch: Lessons from a Controversial Congresswoman, Mompreneur, and Unstoppable Political Activist, documenting her campaigns, time in Congress, and broader activism, was published by Koehler Books in 2025.