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Tom Rooney (Illinois politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tom Rooney
Member of the Illinois Senate
from the 27th district
In office
September 28, 2016 (2016-Sept-28) – January 9, 2019 (2019-Jan-09)
Preceded byMatt Murphy
Succeeded byAnn Gillespie
Mayor of Rolling Meadows
In office
May 2011 (2011-May) – September 2016 (2016-Sept)
Preceded byKen Nelson
Succeeded byLen Prejna
Personal details
Born (1968-03-24) March 24, 1968 (age 56)
Evanston, Illinois
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Sue Daniels
Colleen Heffernan (d. 2005)
Children4
ResidenceRolling Meadows, Illinois
Alma materLoyola University (B.A.)
Northern Illinois University (M.P.A.)
ProfessionTeacher

Tom Rooney (born March 24, 1968) is a former Republican member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 27th district from 2016 to 2019. Previously, he served as Mayor of Rolling Meadows and as a member of the Rolling Meadows city council.

Personal life

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Rooney received a B.A. in History from Loyola University Chicago and an M.P.A. from Northern Illinois University. He is a graduate of Evanston Township High School and was elected Youth Governor in the Illinois State Youth and Government program.

He and his wife, Sue, have four sons: Chris, Brian, Adam, and Christopher.[1]

He has taught social studies at West Leyden High School for over 20 years, and continued to teach while serving in the legislature.[2]

Political career

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In 2000, he was appointed to a vacancy on the Rolling Meadows city council, and he was re-elected in 2001 and 2005. He decided not to run for re-election in 2009 due to his commitment to term limits. In 2011, he was elected Mayor of Rolling Meadows and ran unopposed for a second term in 2015.[1] In the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, Rooney was a delegate pledged to the presidential campaign of Marco Rubio.[3]

In September 2016, he was appointed to the Illinois Senate to replace outgoing Senator Matt Murphy.[4][5] In the 2018 general election, he lost 52%-48% to Democratic candidate Ann Gillespie.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Tom Rooney: Candidate profile". Daily Herald. 2018-10-13. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  2. ^ Press, Pioneer. "Split schedule to allow new state senator to continue teaching at West Leyden". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  3. ^ Robb, Tom (January 28, 2016). "Local Candidates For Presidential Delegate". Journal and Topics. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  4. ^ Lester, Kerry (September 15, 2016). "Rolling Meadows' mayor to replace Murphy in state Senate". Daily Herald. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  5. ^ Lester, Kerry (September 28, 2016). "Will Roskam debate for first time in 8 years?: Swearing in". Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  6. ^ Shields, Todd (November 7, 2018). "Democratic newcomer flips seat, wins Illinois Senate's 27th District". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
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