Maria Antonia Berrios

Berrios conceded defeat in the March 18, 2014 primary election in which she sought re-election to a seventh term. Capitol Fax editor Rich Miller called the primary "the ugliest race in Illinois."

On February 14, 2013, Illinois Senate Bill SB10, the "Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act," legalizing same-sex marriage in Illinois, passed the Illinois Senate, was introduced into the Illinois House, and had its first reading in the Illinois House. On March 12, 2013 Berrios was added as an Alternate Co-Sponsor of SB10 in the Illinois House of Representatives. She was one of 24 Representatives to sign on as Chief Sponsor, Alternate Chief Co-sponsor, or Alternate Co-Sponsor, and one of 19 Alternate Co-Sponsors, in the Illinois House. The Illinois House passed SB10 and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed the bill into law in November, 2013.

Berrios held a life insurance agent license which expired in June, 2012 and has been inactive since June, 2013. Berrios worked for the Illinois Liquor Control Commission as a tobacco compliance specialist. She also worked for the Cook County Recorder of Deeds.

Berrios has been a member of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation since its founding in 2004. In forming the Foundation, each of the Hispanic Representatives in the Illinois House selected a member of its board of directors, and Berrios selected lobbyist Alfred Ronan of Ronan Potts LLC. For two years, the group failed to register and file financial reports with the State of Illinois and was fined. Ronan Potts LLC paid a $350,000 fine after admitted to a multimillion-dollar bid-rigging scheme in the expansion of McCormick Place. Berrios chairs the Board of Hispanic Caucus Chairs, a national organization of Hispanic legislative caucus leadership from 12 U. S. states and territories.

The 39th District of the Illinois House of Representatives was newly created in the 2001 redistricting after the 2000 census to encourage additional Hispanic representation. The district is on Chicago's Northwest Side and includes parts of the Avondale, Belmont Cragin, Hermosa, Logan Square, and Portage Park neighborhoods. At age 25 and newly graduated from college, Berrios ran unopposed in the 2002 primary and general elections. Berrios was the first Puerto Rican American woman to serve in the Illinois House of Representatives. Berrios' political action committee, Citizens for Maria A. Berrios, has received campaign contributions from many of the same property tax appeal law firms that contribute to the multiple campaign funds controlled by her father, Joseph Berrios, who is the Cook County Assessor and a former Commissioner on the Cook County Board of Review. Berrios' political campaign committee has received tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from the campaign fund controlled by Michael J. Madigan, the Speaker of the Illinois House and chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois. In October, 2010, Berrios' campaign committee contributed $50,000 to her father's campaign for Assessor.

Maria Antonia "Toni" Berrios (born April 24, 1977) is a former Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives. She was the first Puerto Rican American woman to serve in the Illinois House. She represented the 39th District from 2003 through 2015. Berrios was a second-generation Representative in the Illinois House, being the daughter of Joseph Berrios, formerly a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, the Cook County Assessor, and chairman of the Democratic Party of Cook County.