Jennifer Stewart —  22 Who Made a Difference in 2022

Thursday, December 22, 2022

GoLocalProv News Team

 

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Representative-elect Stewart. PHOTO: Campaign

Jennifer Stewart was one of the brightest stars of the progressive movement during the 2022 election cycle.

The left-leaning effort, via the Political Cooperative, fielded about 40 candidates for office, and few were successful.

One of their wins was Jennifer Stewart, who is the State Representative-elect in District 59.

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She beat incumbent Jean Philippe Barros, a favorite of Speaker Joe Shekarchi.

Stewart told GoLocal over the summer that the biggest political issue in Rhode Island right now is instability in housing, particularly for renters.

"The median sale price of homes in Rhode Island continues to rise, dramatically outpacing the ability of many people to buy homes. At the same time, higher sales prices can incentivize owners to sell their property, leaving renters vulnerable to double-digit rent increases they cannot afford as new owners bring rents up to current market rates. Both homebuyers and renters struggle to limit housing costs to 30% of their income," she said. "This is a crisis that introduces uncertainty and instability into people's lives and can force people to choose housing over healthcare and food. It amplifies and worsens problems elsewhere in society. Housing advocates estimate that one in three Rhode Islanders can’t afford rent and that over 1,300 people are unhoused."

She grew up on the South Side of Chicago, raised by her mom with the help of her grandparents. She earned degrees from the University of Chicago in political science.

And she told GoLocal, “My inspiration is Civil Rights Movement activist Fannie Lou Hamer. Her work on behalf of desegregation and voting rights, along with her leadership in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, demonstrated an unrelenting commitment to ensuring that everyone can live with dignity in the United States.”

The upset winner who beat the machine. She is one who made a difference in 2022.

 

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