Roman Valenciano

Roman Valenciano

Democratic Party

Candidate, U.S. House Illinois District 14

Elections and appointments

Next election

March 17, 2026

Education

High school

East Aurora High School

Other

Waubonsee Community College, 2018

Personal

Birthplace

Aurora, Ill.

Religion

Catholic

Profession

Politician

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Campaign YouTube

Campaign TikTok

Roman Valenciano (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 14th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on March 17, 2026.^[source]

Valenciano completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Roman Valenciano was born in Aurora, Illinois. He earned a high school diploma from East Aurora High School and a degree from Waubonsee Community College in 2018. His career experience includes working as a politician and in human resources/recruitment. As of 2025, Valenciano was affiliated with the Justice Coalition and Moms Against Genocide.

Elections

2026

See also: Illinois' 14th Congressional District election, 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 election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 14

Incumbent Lauren Underwood and Roman Valenciano are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 14 on March 17, 2026.

		Candidate
		Lauren Underwood
		Roman Valenciano

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 14

Jed Davis, James Marter, and Gary Vician are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 14 on March 17, 2026.

		Candidate
		Jed Davis
		James Marter
	Submit photo	Gary Vician

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia 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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Endorsements

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Campaign themes

2026

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released May 22, 2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Roman Valenciano completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Valenciano's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Roman G. Valenciano

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Immigration Reform: The campaign supports comprehensive immigration reform including reforming ICE practices, and granting citizenship to DACA recipients. The focus is on creating a humane immigration system that protects rights and dignity for immigrants while balancing border security. The campaign advocates for fair asylum processes and protection of immigrant communities.
• Healthcare: The campaign promotes “Medicare for All,” protecting and strengthening Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, lowering prescription drug costs, and supporting small businesses with affordable healthcare access. It emphasizes freedom in healthcare choices combined with universal coverage to ensure healthcare for all.
• Education: The campaign calls for robust investments in education, addressing historic underfunding in underserved communities, supporting Title I and special education funding, and providing supports for homeschooling families. The focus is on equitable opportunities and resources for all students to succeed academically and socially.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

These include protecting and strengthening social safety nets like Medicaid, SNAP, and WIC, which helped my own family grow up in tough circumstances. I am deeply committed to worker rights and labor advocacy, having worked on the front lines of the labor market and standing up as a whistleblower. My campaign prioritizes people-centered solutions around healthcare access, affordable housing, small business relief, restoring American manufacturing, and promoting honest leadership over corporate interests.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Integrity and transparency with one’s own constituents. “Always have their backs and they’ll always have yours” is something I was told and believe. It's the same mindset I had when I worked in Human Resources and kept the worker's a priority over the company.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Representing the interests of the district’s diverse population by working on legislation and policies that promote economic opportunity, social equity, healthcare access, education, and infrastructure development.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I started working at 16 at the Aurora Jewel-Osco. It was one of the most fun jobs I’ve ever had, mostly because of the great people I worked with. The customers were regulars, always friendly, and especially joyful when I helped in floral by making their bouquets. From that job, I learned persistence and discovered a drive that still pushes me to this day. That same drive is why I’m not waiting for someone else to step up and do better than our incumbent, why not me?

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

Some of us bring real life experiences to help craft policies that make sense to us. Understanding the struggles and the urgency one has when help is needed, is a powerful tool. It motivates me to work very collaboratively to ensure as many progressive pieces of legislation are passed.
Integrity; because it is important to support people over party, let alone foreign interests.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

It certainly can help but it’s not required. The policies are more important rather than the technical aspects of the position that can be taught on a as-needed basis. The voices of the American people are to be heard and take a seat at the table to ensure proper representation.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

In my view, America’s greatest challenge is overcoming racism. We must learn to respect our neighbors; their interests, their culture, and their contributions, so we can build a stronger, more united country.

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

Yes but also open to adjusting as needed to meet term limits.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

Politics should be a place for fresh ideas and real perspectives from everyday Americans, not lifelong careers. That’s why I pledge to serve no more than 10 years in the U.S. House, and I will introduce legislation to limit U.S. Senators to 2 terms.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

It's difficult to find a solid politician to model myself after because of the findings I don't like after some research. ie. Rep. Ritchie Torres. Young Latino-American and he takes so much money from AIPAC aligned organizations. AOC and Bernie Sanders are pretty solid and I like the buildup of their careers booming after staying consistent with their courage running for office.
Obama is my favorite political person because of the relatable story of a kid, person of color, simply seeking to fit in America but never seem to do so. Until, we finally challenged "what does it mean to be American enough?" or "being Latino enough" for me. Now I embrace every aspect of myself and challenge people to vote for an America that makes sense for them.

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

A family has been fighting to regain custody of their children, 3 taken from them, and separated into three different foster care homes. Even though they've done everything asked of them by the courts, the courts have continued going against their own prosecutor's recommendation of reunification. I discovered that a lot of us had similar stories when dealing with DCFS and the family court system, which I have made a policy outline of how I seek to resolve these issues.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

I’m used to compromising in the corporate world. However, some things are certainly red lines and worth fighting for, especially when discussing about our freedoms.

The Constitution says that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House. What role would this power play in your priorities if elected?

After speaking with state officials, it appears we need funding in all industries. I seek to invest, not cut, our education system and make it more involved with the newest technologies while still ensuring core skills remain in tact. My concern is the lowering of education standards here in Illinois; in order to remain competitive we should be raising standards, not lower. Investments in cancer research, medicines, cannabis, and agriculture are some of the important priorities that the House could fund to benefit the American people and economy.

How should the U.S. House use its investigative powers?

Investigate the Pentagon and make sure audits are passed with no missing funds or documents.
Investigate the deaths of minors while in the care of foster homes and gather information about DCFS. I have a policy outlined of how I seek to implement an oversight board with enforcement powers, to ensure accountability.

What role should the United States government have in the development or use of artificial intelligence?

The United States should regulate the programing to ensure competitiveness but also user privacy. We must trust the programs we use does get used against the American people. As when the internet first began, there was no internet safety guidelines; I believe it's the same thing with artificial intelligence and we need to be leaders with this new technology. Americans should be educated and armed with this resourceful tools, should they choose to, and be informed of the pro's and con's.

What legislation would you enact related to election administration in the United States?

With the recent comments from the GOP about mail-in voting, I strongly believe in protecting our right to use vote-by-mail. As a disabled person with mobility issues, I feel for every disabled person and parent that simply seeks to participate in our American elections. It's the reason I support acts like the John Lewis Voting Act and ensuring my daughters have a chance of living in a free America. We should get with the times and change how we vote by implementing rank choice voting. Working in Human Resources, I've seen how firsthand there are no real policies for employees to have a chance to vote on election day. Therefore, it simply would not make sense to end early voting or mail-in voting.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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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 the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Roman Valenciano campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2026*	U.S. House Illinois District 14	Candidacy Declared primary	$590	$556
Grand total			$590	$556
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also

2026 Elections

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Government

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External links

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Candidate

U.S. House Illinois District 14

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Footnotes

[show]

Illinois' current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Tammy Duckworth (D)

Dick Durbin (D)

Representatives

District 1

Jonathan Jackson (D)

District 2

Robin Kelly (D)

District 3

Delia Ramirez (D)

District 4

Jesus Garcia (D)

District 5

Mike Quigley (D)

District 6

Sean Casten (D)

District 7

Danny Davis (D)

District 8

Raja Krishnamoorthi (D)

District 9

Jan Schakowsky (D)

District 10

Brad Schneider (D)

District 11

Bill Foster (D)

District 12

Mike Bost (R)

District 13

Nikki Budzinski (D)

District 14

Lauren Underwood (D)

District 15

Mary Miller (R)

District 16

Darin LaHood (R)

District 17

Eric Sorensen (D)

Democratic Party (16)

Republican Party (3)