Christine Radogno

Christine Radogno
Minority Leader of the Illinois Senate
In office
February 2009 – July 1, 2017
Preceded byFrank Watson
Succeeded byBill Brady
Member of the Illinois Senate
from the 41st district
In office
January 4, 2003 – July 1, 2017
Preceded byKirk Dillard[1]
Succeeded byJohn Curran[2]
Member of the Illinois Senate
from the 24th district
In office
January 8, 1997 – January 4, 2003
Preceded byRobert Raica[3]
Succeeded byKirk Dillard[4]
Personal details
Born (1952-12-21) December 21, 1952 (age 72)
Oak Park, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseNunzio Radogno
Children3
ResidenceLemont
Alma materLoyola University, Chicago

Christine Radogno (born December 21, 1952) is an American politician and former Republican member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 41st Legislative District in Cook, DuPage, and Will Counties from 1997 to 2017. Radogno served as the Minority Leader, the first female leader of a political party in the Illinois Legislature. She resigned from the Illinois State Senate on July 1, 2017 amid the Illinois budget crisis.[5][6]

Early life, education and career

Radogno was educated in the Chicago area. She graduated from Lyons Township High School. She received both her Bachelor's and Master's degree in Social Work from Loyola University Chicago.

Before entering politics, she worked as a social worker at Mercy Center for Health Care Services. Her interest in politics began when she decided to prevent the opening of a fire station on her street,[7] and Radogno ran successfully for Village of LaGrange Trustee (1989–1996). In 1996, she ran for the Illinois State Senate and narrowly defeated incumbent Robert Raica in the Republican primary. In 2006, she was the Republican nominee for Illinois State Treasurer and was defeated by Democrat Alexi Giannoulias.

On October 12, 2015, she was named as Illinois state chair of John Kasich's presidential campaign.[8]

On July 1, 2017, Rodagno resigned from the state Senate.

Illinois Senate

Her committee memberships includes:

  • Committee on Rules (Minority Spokesperson)
  • Human Services (Minority Spokesperson)
  • Appropriations I
  • Appropriations II
  • Appropriations III
  • Executive
  • Public Health
  • Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability

Personal life

Radogno lives with her husband, Nunzio, in Lemont, Illinois. They have three adult daughters, one of whom, Lisa, was struck by a car on May 8, 2014 in Washington, D. C. and died on June 18.[9][10]

References

  1. ^ "Our Campaigns - IL State Senate 41 Race - Nov 05, 2002".
  2. ^ "Our Campaigns - IL State Senate 41 Race - Nov 08, 2016".
  3. ^ "Our Campaigns - IL State Senate 24 Race - Nov 05, 1996".
  4. ^ "Our Campaigns - IL State Senate 24 Race - Nov 07, 2000".
  5. ^ Pearson, Rick; Garcia, Monique; Geiger, Kim (June 29, 2017). "Illinois Senate Republican Leader Radogno Steps Down". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  6. ^ Korecki, Natasha (June 29, 2017). "Illinois GOP Leader Resigns Amid Budget Crisis". Politico. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  7. ^ "Leaders - Illinois Issues". Illinoisissues-archive.uis.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  8. ^ "Organization of Kasich for America - Staff, Advisors and Supporters". www.p2016.org. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  9. ^ "Sen. John Cullerton wins state Senate presidency". Chicago Sun-Times. November 20, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-10. [dead link‍]
  10. ^ "Cops Hunt for Car that Struck Senate Staffer Who Died". NBC News. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Illinois Treasurer
2006 		Succeeded by