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.