Rep. Cheri Bustos Breakfast

Hon. Cheri Bustos

Now in her fourth term representing Illinois' 17th Congressional District, Cheri Bustos is a leader in the fight to lower health care costs, raise wages and get real results for hardworking families across our region.

After the Democrats’ historic wins in 2018, Cheri was elected by her colleagues to serve as the Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee where she’s leading the effort to
protect and expand our new Democratic Majority. During that same election, Cheri won re-election by 24 points – the largest victory for any Democrat in the nation from a district that President Trump won. Moving into the 2020 cycle, Cheri is working to replicate that success in newly won competitive seats across America.

One common theme runs through all of Cheri’s work – success starts by showing up, listening and fighting for the values that unite us. That’s why on just about any given Saturday, you’ll find her walking through the aisles of grocery stores across our region listening and learning from the families she serves. On these “Supermarket Saturdays,” Cheri hears about the triumphs and challenges facing families in our region – and then takes that feedback to Washington, D.C. to get results.

You’ll also find Cheri job shadowing workers in our region through “Cheri on Shifts.” During these visits – where she’s done everything from driving a forklift to delivering packages and processing carp – she hears directly from workers about their concerns, struggles and aspirations.

Here at home in Illinois, Cheri also runs a candidate bootcamp called Build the Bench, which has been billed as a national model for candidate training programs. In a series of articles, the
HuffPost described Build the Bench as a “boot camp for training women and people of color to run for office” and added that “It’s working.”

Born and raised in Illinois, Cheri worked as a reporter for nearly two decades. Later, she worked at one of the nation's largest non-profit, non-denominational health systems in the nation – before, during and after passage of the Affordable Care Act. Before running against, and
defeating, a sitting Republican Congressman in 2012, Cheri served on the East Moline City Council. Cheri lives in Moline with her husband, Gerry, the Sheriff of Rock Island County. They have three grown sons and two grandchildren.