Ram Villivalam

Democratic Party

Candidate, Illinois State Senate District 8

Illinois State Senate District 8

Tenure

2019 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

7

Predecessor:Ira Silverstein (D)

Compensation

Base salary

$93,712/year

Per diem

$178/day

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Next election

March 17, 2026

Education

High school

Lincoln Park High School

Bachelor's

The George Washington University

Personal

Profession

Healthcare Consultant

Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

Official X

Official Instagram

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign X

Personal website

Personal Facebook

Personal Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Ram Villivalam (Democratic Party) is a member of theIllinois State Senate, representingDistrict 8. He assumed office on January 9, 2019. His current term ends on January 13, 2027.

Villivalam (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to theIllinois State Senate to representDistrict 8. He is on the ballot in the Democratic primary onMarch 17, 2026.^[source]

Biography

Ram Villivalam was born and lives in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Lincoln Park High School in 2005. Villivalam earned a bachelor's degree in political science and government from The George Washington University in 2009. Villivalam’s career experience includes working as a consultant with SEIU Healthcare Illinois & Indiana.^[1][2]

Committee assignments

2025-2026

Villivalam was assigned to the following committees:

• Appropriations - Health and Human Services
• Appropriations - Public Safety and Infrastructure,Vice-Chair
• Education Committee
• Labor Committee
• Senate Licensed Activities Committee
• Transportation Committee,Chair

2023-2024

Villivalam was assigned to the following committees:

• Energy and Public Utilities Committee
• Public Health Committee
• Human Rights Committee,Vice Chair
• Senate Licensed Activities Committee
• Pensions Committee
• Transportation Committee,Chair

2021-2022

Villivalam was assigned to the following committees:

• Energy and Public Utilities Committee
• Public Health Committee
• Human Rights Committee,Vice-Chair
• Senate Licensed Activities Committee
• Pensions Committee
• Transportation Committee,Chair

2019-2020

Villivalam was assigned to the following committees:

• Appropriations II Committee
• Appropriations I Committee
• Committee of the Whole
• Education Committee
• Senate Health and Human Services Committee
• Labor Committee
• Transportation Committee,Vice chair

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2026

See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on March 17, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 8

IncumbentRam Villivalam (D) is running in the Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 8 on March 17, 2026.

		Candidate
		Ram Villivalam

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 8

Vince Romano (R) is running in the Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 8 on March 17, 2026.

		Candidate
		Vince Romano

---

	There are noincumbents in this race.
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Endorsements

2022

See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Illinois State Senate District 8

IncumbentRam Villivalam won election in the general election for Illinois State Senate District 8 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ram Villivalam (D)	100.0	42,341

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 42,341
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 8

IncumbentRam Villivalam advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 8 on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ram Villivalam	100.0	19,100

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 19,100
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2018

See also:Illinois State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Illinois State Senate District 8

Ram Villivalam won election in the general election for Illinois State Senate District 8 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ram Villivalam (D)	100.0	50,071

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 50,071
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 8

Ram Villivalam defeated incumbentIra Silverstein,Caroline McAteer-Fournier, andDavid Zulkey in the Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 8 on March 20, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ram Villivalam	51.3	14,689
		Ira Silverstein	30.0	8,586
	Submit photo	Caroline McAteer-Fournier	13.5	3,864
		David Zulkey	5.2	1,491

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 28,630
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Zehra Quadri (D)

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

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You can ask Ram Villivalam to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing info@ramforsenate.com.

2022

Ram Villivalam did not completeBallotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.

Scorecards

See also:State legislative scorecards andState legislative scorecards in Illinois

Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Illinois scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

See also

2026 Elections

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External links

Footnotes

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