State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) on Thursday announced Chicago alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa as his running mate and choice for lieutenant governor in the 2018 Illinois gubernatorial election.

Ramirez-Rosa, who represents the 35th Ward on the city’s northwest side, was elected to Chicago City Council in 2015 at the age of 26. He is the youngest current alderman and first openly gay Latino to serve on the council.

Speaking in Logan Square — a neighborhood which Ramirez-Rosa represents — Biss said that he views the election as a “unique moment” to “build not just the Democratic party, but a state government that exists to lift people up across Illinois.”

Biss added that his running mate was someone with “a firm commitment to grassroots activism” and “firm, unshakeable progressive values.”

As 35th Ward alderman and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Ramirez-Rosa has advocated for LGBT rights, a $15 minimum wage and Medicare “for all” in Illinois. A graduate of Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, part of the Chicago Public Schools system, Ramirez-Rosa opposes the voucher system proposed by some Illinois Republicans, which he says would “worsen the CPS racial divide and funding crisis.”

“I’m proud to join this campaign because Daniel and I understand the only way to fight entrenched power … is with a diverse movement of people fighting together to put people and planet first,” Ramirez-Rosa said.

Biss is among eight candidates vying for the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in November 2018.

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