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Rachel Ventura

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Rachel Ventura
Image of Rachel Ventura

Democratic Party

Illinois State Senate District 43
Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2029

Years in position

2

Predecessor

Compensation

Base salary

$89,250/year

Per diem

$166/day

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Associate

Tidewater Community College, 2007

Bachelor's

Benedictine University, 2002

Personal
Birthplace
Oak Lawn, Ill.
Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

Official Twitter

Official Instagram

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Campaign YouTube

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Rachel Ventura (Democratic Party) is a member of the Illinois State Senate, representing District 43. She assumed office on January 11, 2023. Her current term ends on January 10, 2029.

Ventura (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Illinois State Senate to represent District 43. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Ventura completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Rachel Ventura was born in Oak Lawn, Illinois. Ventura earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Benedictine University in 2002 and an associate degree in biology from Tidewater Community College in 2007. Her career experience includes working as the business director of Legendary Games, an actuary, a naturalist, a pet nurse, and a substitute teacher. Ventura served on the Will County Board.[1][2][3][4]

Elections

2024

See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Illinois State Senate District 43

Incumbent Rachel Ventura defeated Jennifer Monson in the general election for Illinois State Senate District 43 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rachel Ventura
Rachel Ventura (D) Candidate Connection
 
58.2
 
49,057
Image of Jennifer Monson
Jennifer Monson (R) Candidate Connection
 
41.8
 
35,266

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 84,323
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 43

Incumbent Rachel Ventura advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 43 on March 19, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rachel Ventura
Rachel Ventura Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
10,347

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 10,347
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 43

Jennifer Monson advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 43 on March 19, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jennifer Monson
Jennifer Monson Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
7,210

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 7,210
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign finance

Endorsements

To view Ventura's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Ventura in this election.

2022

See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Illinois State Senate District 43

Rachel Ventura defeated Diane Harris in the general election for Illinois State Senate District 43 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rachel Ventura
Rachel Ventura (D) Candidate Connection
 
56.1
 
33,667
Image of Diane Harris
Diane Harris (R)
 
43.9
 
26,396

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 60,063
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 43

Rachel Ventura defeated incumbent Eric Mattson in the Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 43 on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rachel Ventura
Rachel Ventura Candidate Connection
 
57.6
 
7,593
Image of Eric Mattson
Eric Mattson
 
42.4
 
5,578

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 13,171
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 43

Diane Harris defeated Michelle Lee in the Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 43 on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Diane Harris
Diane Harris
 
50.8
 
5,050
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Michelle Lee
 
49.2
 
4,900

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 9,950
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Ventura's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

2020

See also: Illinois' 11th Congressional District election, 2020

Illinois' 11th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 17 Republican primary)

Illinois' 11th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 17 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 11

Incumbent Bill Foster defeated Rick Laib and Jon Harlson in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 11 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Bill Foster
Bill Foster (D)
 
63.3
 
194,557
Image of Rick Laib
Rick Laib (R) Candidate Connection
 
36.7
 
112,807
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Jon Harlson (Independent) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
13

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 307,377
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 11

Incumbent Bill Foster defeated Rachel Ventura in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 11 on March 17, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Bill Foster
Bill Foster
 
58.7
 
46,116
Image of Rachel Ventura
Rachel Ventura Candidate Connection
 
41.3
 
32,422

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 78,538
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 11

Rick Laib defeated Krishna Bansal in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 11 on March 17, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rick Laib
Rick Laib Candidate Connection
 
54.1
 
12,474
Image of Krishna Bansal
Krishna Bansal Candidate Connection
 
45.9
 
10,603

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 23,077
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To see a list of endorsements for Rachel Ventura, click here.

Campaign themes

2024

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia
Released September 12, 2021

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Rachel Ventura completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ventura's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Rachel Ventura was born and raised in Joliet. She graduated from Benedictine University with a B.S. in Mathematics and later with an A.S. in Biology from Tidewater Community College. Former actuary, naturalist, pet nurse, substitute teacher and business director. She was elected to the State Senate in 2022. Before that she served on the Will County Board and was the Vice President of the Forest Preserve District of Will County from 2018-2022. Currently, as a full-time legislator, she serves as the vice-chair of Pensions, and on the following committees: Public Health, Human Rights, Local Government, and Early Childhood Education. She was appointed to the Human Trafficking Task Force, Public Financing of Judicial Elections Task Force, Warehouse Safety Standards Task Force. She is also a member of NCSL and The Council of State Governments National Intergovernmental Affairs Committee. When she’s not setting policy she’s spending time with her twin daughters and 2 dogs.
  • I know families are hurting and need financial relief. I favor closing the wealth gap by taxing the ultra-wealthy and making sure our tax dollars are working for the middle class and working class.
  • I am Pro-Choice, Pro-Workers’ Rights, Pro-Living Wages, Pro-Environment, and Pro-Affordable Housing
  • I believe government should work for everyone, not just the super wealthy or politically connected. That's why I don't accept any corporate pac donations so that I know every vote I consider will be about the residents and not the donors.
The Environment, Criminal Justice Reform, and Mental Health Care
"Treat others the way you wish to be treated."
Honesty, Integrity, Problem Solving, Compassion, Listening, and Empathy.
I'm honest, caring, intelligent, and I listen well.
Lead by example. Vote on a fair and balance budget. Pass laws that help improve the lives of the residents.
Communities worth living in and a sustainable planet to live on.
Seeing Halley's comet in the 1980s
I worked at McDonalds for 7 months.
A working relationship but one where both sides can ask questions and negotiate, as needed, to move the state forward in a positive manner.
Water Access, Housing Access/Price, Climate concerns, Inflation.
Yes
Yes
The first bill I passed stopped fraudulent or spamming mail that looked like overdue bills by requiring a disclaimer that advertisements were not "Bills". https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=103-0087
Environment, Public Health, Education, Local Gov, Capitol Improvement, Transportation
We need transparency and accountability.
Support

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2022

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia
Released September 12, 2021

Candidate Connection

Rachel Ventura completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ventura's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Rachel Ventura is a Will County Board member and Vice President of the Forest Preserve. She serves on the Nature Foundation and Heritage Corridor Board. A native of Joliet, she earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Benedictine University and a biology degree later from Tidewater. Before being elected, she worked as an actuarial analyst in California and later a naturalist in Georgia. She is a single mom of twin daughters, a climate activist, and currently running for State Senate in IL 43.

On the Will County Board, she secured long-term clean water for 800 families, spearheaded the hiring of a vaccine equity manager, and chairs the Public Health and Safety committee. She has pushed for greener policies like moving towards 100% renewable energy, creating a local food economy, and banning BT toxins.

Rachel Ventura is an active member of the community, a lifetime Girl Scout, and American Legion Auxiliary member. In her free time she volunteers at the local community theater and spends time with her twin daughters, Lily and Eve.
  • Rachel Ventura Supports Common Sense Gun Laws
  • Rachel Ventura Will Protect Women's Rights
  • Rachel Ventura Doesn't Take Campaign PAC Donations
The climate crisis is an issue that will impact all of us and many of the residents of the 43rd District will be impacted as we shift away from fossil fuels towards a renewable energy future. It will be important to make sure that we have a just transition and attract local green collar jobs to maintain a stable base of employment.

As the Joliet aquafer dries up, we have a water crisis that is going to require major infrastructure improvements throughout the 43rd District and in neighboring Crest Hill. This will be a high priority of mine as a State Senator.

I support robust, high-speed public broadband that will provide stable support for technology companies that want to set up shop in Will County. Building a competitive infrastructure will save ratepayers money and provide high quality service that keeps young people in Will County.

The first step is electing people who are not tied to corporate PAC money. As long as I have been in the political sphere, I have proudly used the tagline, “No strings attached,” and I have not taken one dime in corporate PAC money. The challenge of course is running a grassroots campaign while an opponent might have millions of dollars. We need campaign finance laws similar to Arizona’s Clean Election law. Their electoral system provides matching funds for any candidate who gets on the ballot and qualifies as a clean election candidate.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2020

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia
Released July 22, 2019

Candidate Connection

Rachel Ventura completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ventura's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Rachel Ventura is a mathematician, a naturalist, a Will County Board member and a single mother raising twin girls. She grew up in Joliet, IL with two working class, extremely political parents, both union members. She knows the power of organizing people for a stronger voice.

Ventura skipped a grade in high school, graduated with a Bachelors degree in Mathematics from Benedictine University, and later earned a second degree in Biology. She left a successful career as an actuary in the insurance industry because she saw the injustices that the industry created in our society. She became a naturalist working for the Georgia State Parks.

In 2016, Ventura left an abusive marriage and returned to Joliet. She was outraged at the condition of the city she grew up in, the rampant corruption and abuse of power in city hall. Coming from a political family, she was encouraged to do something about it.

She ran with the tagline, "no strings attached." She had a strong showing in a field of 15 candidates for city council and turned around to run for the Will County Board. She dominated the 5-person primary and won the general election by 8% points over the Republican and 11% over the other Democrat. She has continued to challenge the corrupt system and win the support of the people.
  • Passing the Green New Deal, to preserve the earth for our children, invest in green infrastructure, and create living wage jobs.
  • Passing Medicare for All, to provide an affordable single-payer healthcare that puts patients and doctors in charge of healthcare decisions.
  • Overturning Citizens United and passing meaningful Campaign Finance Reform that prevents the rich and powerful from buying elections.
~ Fixing our broken systems so that they work for everyone, not just the wealthy. Closing the wealth gap in America and strengthening the middle class.

~ The Green New Deal, to preserve the earth for our children, invest in infrastructure, and create living wage jobs.
~ Affordable single-payer healthcare that puts patients and doctors in charge of healthcare decisions.
~ Immigration reform that keeps families together and shuts down for-profit detention centers.
~ Criminal justice system reform to ensure fairness for everyone, including poor people and people of color.

~ Campaign finance reform that prevents the rich and powerful from buying elections.
Honesty, Integrity, Compassion, Intelligence.
I moved quickly on the Will County Board to successfully push for the Greenest Region Compact, a framework for regional sustainability. I listened to residents of the 9th district when they raised concerns about Aqua a private water company that was being contracted to take over Fairmont's water. I worked on an inter-government agreement to get the residents of Fairmont onto Joliet's public water system. I continue the fight to move Will County onto 100% renewable power.
Every elected official should be responsive to their constituents, listen to their concerns and act on behalf of the majority of residents in that district. If every lawmaker did this and closed the door on the wealthy corporate lobbyists who buy access to the decision makers, we would have a government that works for everyone. An elected official should be honest and courageous enough to challenge friends and foes alike when things are not going in a direction that benefits the majority of Americans.
A sustainable planet for the next generation
No. Although I bring experience to this office, I also believe that a new voice with a different perspective and skill set can be useful.
The greatest threat to all people all over the world is the climate crisis. I support the Green New Deal as the most viable solution to move out of crisis state. Unfortunately, we have a political system that allows the fossil fuel industry to buy off lawmakers and water down legislation so pseudo solutions like the USE IT ACT are being discussed instead of the Green New Deal. Ending the corrupting influence of money on our political system seems to be an equally important step.
Energy and Commerce, Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, Education and Labor and Ways & Means
Two, or four-year terms seems appropriate. It is difficult to accomplish something in two years while one is perpetually campaigning. A hybrid solution might be to have a 2-year term and then a 4-year term, followed by another 2-year term.
Although I see the appeal of term limits since we have a broken system where too many politicians are listening to their wealthy donors and not their constituents, I don't feel that setting rules like term limits is the best solution. The American people have the ability to vote out their representative every two years or keep them in. Term limits doesn't turn over staff, it doesn't present the moving up into higher office, it doesn't stop the revolving lobbyist door, it doesn't allow someone good to do their best for the time needed, and it takes the ability of the people to choose away. Instead we need campaign finance reform and an end to Citizen's United. We need to remove barriers to voting and allow for more mail in voting or early voting.
Yes. I have learned on the county board that leadership positions matter when it comes to setting priorities. I would prefer to support someone else whom I agree with philosophically during my first term, but I feel ready to lead on issues related to energy and the environment.
Wendy shared a disturbing, sad story about her 38-year old cousin, Nick, who was diagnosed with a hernia. The simple laparoscopic surgery to fix the hernia was not covered by his for-profit insurance company. The company denied the claim stating that it was not medically necessary. On October 22nd, Nick went home sick and started bleeding. He tried controlling the bleeding with towels and sheets, but it was not enough. Because his insurance company had denied Nick the care he needed to repair the hernia, he bled to death, and was discovered in his home 48 hours later.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Rachel Ventura campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Illinois State Senate District 43Won general$260,033 $95,012
2022Illinois State Senate District 43Won general$419,232 $205,555
2020U.S. House Illinois District 11Lost primary$81,262 $82,612
Grand total$760,527 $383,179
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Illinois

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Illinois scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


2024


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External links

Candidate

Illinois State Senate District 43
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    Illinois State Senate District 43
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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on December 1, 2019
    2. ↑ LinkedIn, "Rachel F. Ventura," accessed May 12, 2023
    3. ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "Senator Rachel Ventura (D)," accessed May 12, 2023
    4. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 18, 2024

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Eric Mattson (D)     		Illinois State Senate District 43
    2023-Present    		 Succeeded by
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