Joe Berrios was the first Latino elected to the Illinois General Assembly, at the age of 30 in 1982, and his political career has slid downhill ever since. Think of his legacy as something along the lines of a trail left by a snail.
Ever a toady to Democratic Party powers that be, he sided with the Vrdolyak 29 during the so-called Council Wars, which briefly cost him the 31st Ward committeeman seat he’d won in the 80s, though he reclaimed it in the 90s after Harold Washington ally Ray Figueroa lost interest. He rose to chairman of the Cook County Democrats in 2007 in what could be perceived as a bone thrown to Hispanics.
