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John,
Lauren recently sat down with ELLE Magazine to discuss a number of important issues, including the insurrection last month, her goals for the 117th Congress, and Lauren’s commitment to always doing what’s right -- even in the most difficult of times.
You know all too well that folks will continue to try and scare Lauren out of doing the work. But we also know that Lauren will always have our back. Just like you, we’re so proud to be on Team Underwood. We’ve included Lauren’s ELLE profile below, we hope you’ll give it a read.
Thanks for being a part of this.
--Team Underwood
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ELLE Magazine:
Lauren Underwood Is the Future
The youngest Black woman in Congress has pulled off not one, but two, miraculous wins in a purple district. What’s her secret? Talking to people and making them feel heard, no matter how wide the divide.
Feb. 22nd, 2021
Imagine what it must have felt like to be Rep. Lauren Underwood, the youngest Black woman in Congress, on the day when the halls of our nation’s Capitol building were stormed by an angry mob of white supremacist election deniers, some of whom sought to hang legislators by noose on makeshift gallows they had constructed outside.
Underwood had arrived at her office early that morning, after first stopping to receive her second dose of the coronavirus vaccine. She was watching the electoral certification process on TV (not all members attended in person due to the pandemic) when she saw some of her colleagues being rushed off the floor. As the images were playing out onscreen, she says she started hearing loud noises—“bangs or gunshots, almost like cannons”—in the hallway outside. It was only her second time in her new office; she didn’t yet know the escape routes. As she and her chief of staff barricaded the door with furniture, her phone started “making all these noises I’d never heard,” alerting her that nearby buildings had been evacuated due to bomb threats. There was no actionable information, Underwood tells me two days after the attack, just “Shelter in place,” “Stay put,” “Be quiet.”
She ventured into the adjoining empty office of a House colleague so that she could peek into the hallway to see what was going on. Her stomach must have sank when she realized the door had shut behind her, locking her out of her office and leaving her without her phone, computer, and iPad—all of which remained inside. She had only her member pin to identify her.
Underwood was eventually escorted to an undisclosed location, but what should have been a safe space was anything but when she realized the room was crammed full of Republicans who refused to put on masks. It was “the most direct superspreader exposure I had ever been in,” says Underwood, 34. “After all those months of being so careful with COVID...” (She has a heart condition called supraventricular tachycardia and is sure that if she got the virus, “I'd be symptomatic, and it would be rough.”)
For four hours, Underwood and other members were told they couldn’t leave. No bathroom breaks, no food—“you just had to sit there,” she says. She had someone text her sister to say, “I’m with Lauren. She’s in an undisclosed location without her phone. She’s safe.” The sergeant at arms came in after about two hours and said, “We haven’t yet secured the Capitol. We are waiting for reinforcements to arrive.” What? How is this possible? Underwood thought.
Read the full piece on ELLE's website by clicking here. [[link removed]]
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Lauren Underwood for Congress
13400 S. Route 59
Suite 116 Box 248
Plainfield, IL 60585
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