A 24-year-old from Rockford is looking to be the next U.S. Representative for Illinois’ 17th Congressional District.
Challenging the incumbent on the Democratic ticket is Montez Soliz, who sees his age as an advantage in the race. As the oldest of nine siblings, Soliz said they are his biggest inspiration for running for office at a high level.
“I always tell people I feel like I have to be a superhero to be able to provide for all my siblings, but that’s partly why I’m in this race,” he said. “I want to be able to leave them a future that’s worth living for, not just existing or surviving in like so many families are (doing) today.”
Going from college to Congress is a big step, but its one Soliz feels he is prepared for. He has been civically engaged since he was 12 years old, following in the steps of his grandfather Philip Jackson, who started the nonprofit The Black Star Project. The Chicago-based nonprofit was founded in 1996 to help Black and Latinx youth further their education and find stable jobs after graduation, he said.
“I felt as though I was a shadow, being able to see the work that he was doing at the time,” Soliz said. “There were times where I told myself, ‘Why am I doing this? Why is this important?’ And it really wasn’t until after he had passed away that I knew the gravity of which the work that he was doing, and I knew for me, I wanted to continue that legacy, if it meant being part of something bigger than myself.”
The 17th Congressional District is currently represented by Eric Sorensen, a Moline Democrat who was first elected in 2022 and reelected in 2024. He has filed to run for reelection and has begun gathering signatures, setting up an expected primary with Soliz. Julie Bickelhaupt and Dillan Vancil are vying for the seat on the Republican ticket. Illinois’ primary election will be held March 17, 2026.
The district stretches across parts of northern, western and central Illinois, including Rockford, the Illinois Quad-Cities, Galesburg, Peoria and Bloomington-Normal.
Soliz was outspoken in his criticism for Sorensen, who he feels has not explained his voting process and has not been forthright with constituents.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had a representative that has dodged or dismissed or outright completely ignored several questions, whether it’s addressing why he voted for the Laken Riley Act or why he signed a resolution thanking ICE for ‘their contributions to the district,'” Soliz said. “We need a Representative that’s going to be proactive and not someone that’s just going to be reactive.”
The youngest of the candidates, Soliz feels he is part of the Gen Z front who are challenging the way things have always been and are looking for a new path forward.
“We’re not just seeing that in Illinois, 17th congressional district, but we’re seeing that all across this nation. More Gen Z candidates that are saying, ‘I’m tired of playing by the rules. I’m tired of what the status quo has to offer. This is how we can have an alternative change. A more bold progressive leadership in Congress,'” he said. “And for me, I’ve been saying time and time again, when we don’t have a seat at the table, we’re on the menu.”
Soliz said his campaign revolves around 10 key issues, but they can be boiled down to three main points with the first being economic justice. Affordable living, through raising minimum wage or creative more affordable housing options are high on his list, next to investing federal dollars back into the Midwest, he said, by creating more jobs specifically in renewable energy.
Health care is another top priority for Soliz, who said there are upwards of 17 million being impacted when it comes to Medicare and Medicaid cuts.
“I’m someone that has (eight) siblings. All are on some form of government-based health care insurance plan, and so I am having to have that hard conversation with my mom, my father, about how that could impact even our family and so many other families,” he said. “We need a proactive leader that is going to push for a Medicare for all approach.”
Soliz graduated from Northern Illinois University in 2023 where he majored in political science and minored in nonprofit management. Initially, his goal was to become an orthopedic surgeon. That changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It wasn’t until we saw what this first Trump administration was like, and how he was treating our first responders during the COVID pandemic that I made that shift from medically to being civically engaged in seeing that as a potential future for me,” he said. “I knew I always wanted to be involved in medicine, even if that meant my involvement (was) legislatively as a lawmaker, being able to make sure that our doctors, nurses, our essential care workers are given the protections that they need, and it’s not being tarnished by what one person says or how they feel.”
During his college career Soliz was heavily involved in Model Illinois Government; a simulation where students across the state spend a weekend in Springfield acting as legislators and learning the ins and outs of governmental affairs. During his senior year he interned with US. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Naperville) as a liaison between her campaign and NIU.
His proudest moment during that campaign, he said, was increasing student voter turnout from 66% to 76%. After graduation Soliz interned for state Reps. Maurice West (D-Rockford) and Rep. Lance Yednock (D-Ottawa).
Soliz finished his year in Washington, D.C., working as an official scheduler for Underwood, working with her for about 18 months. He worked his way up to office manager and legislative correspondent, becoming more involved with constituents by responding and taking meetings with different stakeholders, organizations and businesses, he said.
During his tenure, President Donald Trump began his second administration, which prompted Soliz to make a political move of his own: return to Rockford and run for Congress.
“I knew we needed leaders in their hometown that were willing to stand up against not only Trump, but this whole oligarchy that we’re currently experiencing,” he said. “Up until now, I was serving as Deputy Chief of Staff for State Representative Amy ‘Murri’ Briel of the 76th District. So I’ve been all over the places, but I love the Midwest. I like to say there’s nothing like Midwest hospitality.”
Bringing that Midwestern mindset to Congress is something Soliz is passionate about. A Trump critic, Soliz noted the president is a convicted felon and “if you remove the F, you have Elon,” a reference to former Trump advisor and leader of the Department of Government Efficiency group, Elon Musk.
“Those are two individuals that do not represent … the American people, at least many of the people that we’re talking to, and do not embody the core values of what it means to live in this country.” Soliz said.
There’s an entirely new generation that is having to live with the consequences of the Trump administration and what previous generations have done, Soliz said, again mentioning affordable housing as a top priority.
“We are the generation of school shooter drills. The generation where we have to address climate changes and existential crisis. We have a host of issues that we as a generation cannot wait any longer to address when we have to address them right now,” he said.
A look inside Quad-Cities voting precincts and how both sides of the river become more red
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Divided by the Mississippi River, the two sides of the Quad-Cities became more conservative since 2012. While Scott County flipped red for President Donald Trump, Rock Island stayed blue.
These Quad-City voting precincts in Davenport and Moline shifted the most over the 2024 election cycle. Here’s what voters in those precincts had to say.
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