Sydney's first exposure to politics was working with her grandmother in 1983 to help elect Harold Washington, the city’s first Black mayor. In 2018, she was elected Assemblywoman to Assembly District 54, and last year, she began serving as State Senator to District 30, a district that encompasses 93% of CD 37, the congressional district she is now running to represent. Her top policy issues are criminal justice reform; ending voter suppression/expanding voting rights; reproductive rights; health care for all; climate action; job creation and economic justice.