Lupe Castillo

Lupe Castillo is the Republican nominee for the open 4th District seat. According to Ballotpedia, she was born in San Antonio, Texas, and has worked as a chef and in the pharmacy industry. She ran for the Illinois House in 2022 and for this congressional seat in 2024, and says she is running on "pro-family values and policies."[1][2][3]

Castillo was born in San Antonio, Texas. In a 2024 Ballotpedia survey she describes herself as a second-generation American whose first language was Spanish, and says she began working as a child on newspaper routes.[3] She attended a Catholic high school, working for four years to help pay tuition, and earned an associate degree from Washburne Community Trade School in 2000. Her career experience includes work as a chef and in food service, retail and the pharmacy industry.[3]

Castillo says she has been a member of the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) and the 10th District Advisory Committee of the Chicago Police Department; Ballotpedia lists affiliations with Southwest Side GOP, Chicago GOP and the Little Village Community Council. The Sun-Times reports she has lived in the district for 43 years.[2][3] She ran as the Republican candidate for Illinois House District 23 in 2022 and lost to Edgar Gonzalez Jr., 82.0% to 18.0%. In 2024 she ran for Illinois' 4th Congressional District and lost to Jesus Garcia, 27.3% to 67.5%.[3] Castillo was unopposed in the March 17, 2026 Republican primary for the open seat.[1][3]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.