Koehler was first elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1980,[1] defeating incumbent Representative Donald Anderson in the Republican primary.[2] Koehler received the most votes in the primary, in which the two candidates receiving the most votes were nominated.[3] Koehler also received the most votes in the general election, in which the three candidates receiving the most votes were elected.[4]
Koehler first represented the 45th district,[5] but after the Cutback Amendment was redistricted into the 89th district with fellow incumbent Republican Representative John "Jay" Ackerman. The 89th district included all or parts of Marshall, McLean, Stark, Tazewell, and Woodford counties in north-central Illinois.[6] Koehler defeated Ackerman by a wide margin.[7][1] In the general election, Koehler defeated Democrat Mike McNally by more than a 3 to 1 margin.[8][9] Koehler was unopposed in the 1984 general election.[10] Koehler served as Representative for the 89th district until 1987.[11] Koehler's district was based in north-central Illinois.[12]
Koehler opposed the $8,000 a year pay raise that the legislature voted to give itself in a lame-duck session in 1978, and returned $8,000 of her pay to the state treasury every year she was in office, returning a total of $48,000 over her 6 years in office.[3][13][14]
1986 United States Senate election
In 1986, Koehler ran for the United States Senate.[12] Koehler defeated Inland Steel executive George Ranneywik in the Republican primary,[15][16] but was unable to oust incumbent Alan Dixon in the general election.[11] She was succeeded in the Illinois House of Representatives by John "Jay" Ackerman, who she had defeated in the 1982 Republican primary for the seat.[17]
Following her run for Congress, Koehler became senior legislative counsel of Americans United for Life.[23] In May 1998, Judy Koehler was appointed to the Illinois Appellate Court by Illinois Supreme Court Justice James Heiple, to fill the vacancy of Michael McCuskey, who had become a federal judge.[18] She narrowly defeated appellate attorney Karen Kendall of Princeville and law professor Michael Closen of Lockport in the Republican primary garnering 34.17% of the vote to Kendall's 33.23% and Closen's 32.60%.[24][25] In that year's general election, she lost to Democratic candidate Mary McDade.[26]
Electoral history
Illinois House of Representatives District 45 Republican primary, 1980[3]
