A Note From Marie Newman: Nick Uniejewski is the leader we need.
I want to tell you a little bit about Nick Uniejewski.
I first met Nick in 2017, when he started volunteering on my first congressional campaign. At the time, he was still in college—and working two jobs, including an overnight shift.
Most people in that situation would have focused only on getting through school. Not Nick.
After working overnight and going to class during the day, he would still show up. He knocked doors, helped bring people together, and worked like the dickens every single day because he believed we could defeat an entrenched incumbent who was completely out of step with the Democratic Party.
And together, we did.
In 2020, we beat one of the last anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ Democrats in Congress. But we didn’t win because of big money or insiders. We won because we did the work.
We knocked on doors. We met people in their living rooms. We built real coalitions across our communities.
Nick was part of that effort from the very beginning. And now he’s leading that same kind of campaign for State Senate on Chicago’s Northside.
At a moment when our party is deciding what kind of future it wants, Nick represents exactly the leadership we need—a new generation willing to organize, listen, and fight harder for real change.
His campaign has already knocked on more than 75,000 doors. They’ve hosted over 250 salons and small gatherings, bringing neighbors together in living rooms to talk about housing affordability, health care, and getting corporate money out of politics—and to actually chart a path forward together.
People are noticing.
The Chicago Tribune recently endorsed Nick, calling him the candidate who has “mastered the housing affordability issue.” Community groups like Better Streets Chicago Action Fund, IfNotNow Chicago, Latino Leadership Council, Muslim Civic Coalition-Activate, Sunrise Movement Chicago, and Indivisible Lincoln Square have endorsed him. So have respected Northside leaders including Alderwoman Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth and former Alderman Dick Simpson.
But here’s the reality. Nick is running against an entrenched incumbent with over a million dollars in the bank, backed by corporate interests and the same political insiders who want to keep things exactly the way they are.
So if we want to win, we have to do what grassroots campaigns always do and what Nick does so well: outwork them.
With just 11 days left, Nick’s team needs help knocking doors, talking to voters, and getting out the vote as early voting continues and ballots come in.
That’s why I’m throwing down with Nick for a Day of Action in the final stretch on Saturday, March 14 at 9:30 AM.
I hope you’ll come knock doors with me.
Back in 2020, we defied the odds on March 17 and made history. Six years later, on that very same lucky day, we have another chance to send a new kind of fighter to Springfield.
One who shows up. One who listens. And one who fights like hell for our neighbors.
If you can’t make it out to volunteer, you can still help by donating to Nick’s campaign or spreading the word to friends across the Northside—from the Gold Coast to Lakeview, Lincoln Park to Lincoln Square.
Because campaigns like this only win one way: by fighting all day long and twice on Sundays.
Let’s go get ‘em,
Marie Newman
Former Congresswoman, IL-03