About Robert Peters

Robert Peters is running for Congress to be a fearless champion for working families. Raised on the South Side, Robert worked as a community organizer, fighting for better pay for working people, voting rights, and economic justice, before becoming an Illinois State Senator in 2019. 

In the Illinois Senate, Robert has been one of the state’s most effective lawmakers. He led the charge to end cash bail in Illinois, moving us to a more equitable system based on fostering public safety. He passed laws to raise the minimum wage, end the state sales tax on groceries, and expand the Senior Property Tax Freeze. Robert also took on powerful health insurance companies, expanding mental health coverage and lowering costs through the Illinois Healthcare Protection Act. 

In Congress, he’ll fight to make life more affordable for the working families of the 2nd District. He’ll work to roll back Trump’s attacks on Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, make quality health care a universal guarantee through Medicare for All, and expand Medicare’s power to lower prescription drug prices. Robert will be a staunch defender of Social Security and Medicare, fighting to undo Trump’s cuts to our safety net and to expand these vital benefits. He’ll also work to lower the cost of housing by banning out-of-state corporations from hiking rent, and by working to create more affordable units.

Robert’s commitment to justice comes from his own story. Born hard of hearing to a woman struggling with a substance use disorder, and adopted as a young child, he was raised by a social worker and a civil rights attorney who taught him the value of fighting for others. Those lessons still fuel his work today. Robert has been a fighter his whole life and he’ll take that fighting spirit and organizer’s mentality to Congress on behalf of working people.

Robert graduated from Mount Carmel High School in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences from Kansas State University. Today, he lives with his wife, Grace, just blocks from where he grew up. Guided by his Jewish faith and active at KAM Isaiah Israel synagogue, he remains rooted in the community he seeks to serve. Robert and Grace are expecting their first child in Spring 2026.