Raised on Chicago’s South Side, Robert Peters worked as a community organizer fighting for better pay for working people, voting rights and economic justice before becoming an Illinois State Senator in 2019.

In the Illinois Senate, Peters has been one of the state’s most effective lawmakers. He led the charge to end cash bail in Illinois, moving the state to a more equitable system based on fostering public safety. He has passed laws to raise the minimum wage, end the state sales tax on groceries and expand the Senior Property Tax Freeze. Peters also took on powerful health insurance companies, expanding mental health coverage and lowering costs through the Illinois Healthcare Protection Act.

Peters’ commitment to justice comes from his own story. Born hard of hearing to a woman struggling with a substance use disorder, and adopted as a young child, he was raised by a social worker and a civil rights attorney who taught him the value of fighting for others. Those lessons still fuel his work today.

Peters graduated from Mount Carmel High School in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood and earned a bachelor of science in social sciences from Kansas State University. Today, he lives with his wife and daughter just blocks from where he grew up. Guided by his Jewish faith and active at KAM Isaiah Israel Synagogue, he remains rooted in the community he seeks to serve.