Former Congressman Luis Gutierrez Endorses Giannoulias for Secretary of State
Launches New Ad Announcing his Support for Former Democrat Treasurer and Their Fight for Worker Rights
CHICAGO, IL – Former Chicago Congressman Luis Gutierrez announced his endorsement of Alexi Giannoulias today, launching a new ad in support of the Democrat running for Secretary of State.
In the ad, Gutierrez, who served in the U.S. House from 1993 to 2019, tells viewers that he and Giannoulias have “been fighters – together – for working men and women in the State of Illinois and across this country.”
Guterriez and Giannoulias, who was Illinois State Treasurer at the time, teamed up during the Great Recession when Bank of America cut off its line of credit to Republic Windows and Doors, leading the Chicago company to halt operations and attracting national attention.
The company terminated its 250 United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America workers with only three days’ notice and without paying for workers’ earned vacation time or the additional compensation they were entitled to receive.
Giannoulias warned Bank of America to extend the company’s line of credit if it wanted to keep doing business with the State.
“The owners just simply turned their backs on workers who had been there for decades,” Guterriez says in the ad. “Alexi and I, we took on Bank of America, and we won…As Treasurer, he raised his voice for those workers – and that shouldn’t surprise any of us…”
Giannoulias and Gutierrez, who also noted in the ad that Giannoulias’ parents were immigrants, had also fought together for passage of the DREAM Act and other meaningful immigration rights reforms.
