This La Grange businesswoman’s victory over 16-year incumbent Dan Lipinski in November broke the Lipinski family’s 45-year grip on the Southwest Side. Part of a growing wave of women in Congress — now numbering 144, a 24 percent increase from 2019 — she is one of seven women representing Illinois. Newman told the Sun-Times: “I think we have opened a door that never will be closed again.” The freshman intends to pursue a progressive track — Medicare for All, citizenship for Dreamers, abortion rights, income equality, Green New Deal — that aligns her squarely with members of the freshly empowered Squad.