Convention Insider: Lauren Underwood Is Right at Home in Chicago

Lauren Underwood was running late, but she couldn’t not stop for a selfie. Or five.

A Democratic congresswoman from Chicago who represents the city’s western suburbs, she can’t go anywhere this week without being recognized as her hometown hosts her party’s national convention.

In Washington, where she is completing her third term, Ms. Underwood is known more for her policy work than viral moments. Though she is a co-chair of the House Democrats’ policy and communications committee, she largely blends in as a rank-and-file member.

But in Chicago, a city she has called home since she was 3, Ms. Underwood is much more of a household name.

“It’s different when it’s in your hometown,” she said in an interview inside the McCormick Place convention hall, where Democratic delegates are conducting business.

Her supporters this week include young liberal organizers and older convention volunteers. And perhaps most noticeably, sisters from her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, of which Vice President Kamala Harris is also a member. Several wanted pictures and hugs as they spotted her walking to a car outside the McCormick Place perimeter.

As she posed for photos with constituents and admirers, the sun shining on her blue linen suit, Ms. Underwood jokingly described herself as “very mindful” and “very demure,” nodding to a TikTok video that recently took the internet by storm.