Peoria is a city in and county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in Illinois. It is the principal city of the Peoria metropolitan area in Central Illinois, consisting of the counties of Fulton, Marshall, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell, and Woodford which had a population of 402,391 in 2020.
Francis Lazarro Rizzo was an American police officer and politician. He served as commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) from 1967 to 1971 and mayor of Philadelphia from 1972 to 1980. He was a member of the Democratic Party throughout the entirety of his career in public office. He switched to the Republican Party in 1986 and campaigned as a Republican for the final five years of his life.
Mark Clark was an American activist and member of the Black Panther Party (BPP). He was killed on December 4, 1969, with Fred Hampton, state chairman of the Black Panthers, during a Chicago police predawn raid.
William Mark Peduto is an American politician who was the 60th mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 2014 until 2022. He was a Democratic member of the Pittsburgh City Council from 2002 to 2014.
Aaron Jon Schock is a former American politician who was Republican U.S. Representative for Illinois's 18th congressional district from 2009 until 2015. The district is based in Peoria and includes part of Springfield. He was the first member of the U.S. Congress born in the 1980s as well as the first millennial member of Congress; when he took his seat in 2009 he was the youngest member of Congress, at age 27. Previously, Schock had served two terms in the Illinois House of Representatives, also as its youngest member.
Brian Zachary France is an American businessman and the former CEO and chairman of NASCAR. He served in the post from 2003 to 2018, following his grandfather Bill France Sr. and father Bill Jr., in the executive position. In 2019, France founded Silver Falcon Capital, Inc. and became CEO of the private investing firm.
Jenny Anne Durkan is an American attorney, former federal prosecutor, and politician who served as the 56th mayor of Seattle, Washington. She is the daughter of Martin Durkan. Durkan is a member of the Democratic Party. After earning her Juris Doctor from University of Washington School of Law in 1985, Durkan began practicing law as a criminal defense lawyer and civil litigator. In October 2009, President Barack Obama appointed her United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington. She held that position until September 2014.
Academy of Our Lady and Spalding Institute were Catholic high schools across the street from each other in downtown Peoria, Illinois.
The Taft Homes are a public housing project located off the Illinois River in Peoria, Illinois. In total there are 200 apartments in Taft, housed in separate wood-framed buildings. The Taft Homes are currently in the early stages of a redevelopment project that calls for the demolition of all current units, with the lots then transformed into mixed-income housing.
James Thurman Butts Jr. is an American politician, currently serving as the mayor of Inglewood, California. He rose through the ranks of law enforcement in Inglewood during the 1970s and 1980s, eventually becoming a Deputy Chief. He then worked as the Chief of Police in Santa Monica, California from 1991 to 2006. Butts then took a public safety position with Los Angeles World Airports in 2006. He was elected mayor of Inglewood in 2010 and re-elected in 2014 with an 84% vote. He led efforts to renovate and reopen The Forum and develop a plan for SoFi Stadium and Intuit Dome in Hollywood Park.
Darin McKay LaHood is an American attorney and politician who has served as a U.S. representative from Illinois since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, LaHood has represented the 16th district since 2023, and previously represented the 18th district from 2015 to 2023. He previously served in the Illinois Senate from the 37th legislative district from 2011 to 2015, before being elected to Congress in a special election following the resignation of Aaron Schock.
Cheryl Lea Bustos is an American journalist, healthcare executive, and politician who served as the U.S. representative from Illinois's 17th congressional district from 2013 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first woman elected to Congress from her district in the northwestern part of the state, anchored by the Illinois side of the Quad Cities and partially including Peoria and Rockford. In 2019, Bustos became chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).
The 2018 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the governor of Illinois, concurrently with the 2018 Illinois general election and other midterm elections. Incumbent Republican governor Bruce Rauner ran for re-election to a second term in office, but was defeated by Democratic nominee J. B. Pritzker. This was one of eight Republican-held governorships up for election in a state that Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election.
Ryan Spain is a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 73rd district which includes parts of Bureau, Marshall, Peoria, Rock Island, Stark and Whiteside counties in west central Illinois.
The 2018–19 Phoenix mayoral special election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the new Mayor of Phoenix, Arizona. The election was officially nonpartisan; candidates ran on the same ballot. In the initial round of the election, since no candidate reached 50 percent plus one vote, a runoff election was held on March 12, 2019, between the top two finishers.
Daniel Dale is a Canadian journalist known for rebutting a large number of false claims made by United States President Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign and presidency. Dale credits an encounter with Toronto Mayor Rob Ford while covering the mayor and his brother Doug for the Toronto Star as the inspiration for developing his brand of adversarial journalism.
John Valdivia is an American politician who served as the 34th mayor of San Bernardino, California. Valdivia was unsuccessful in his bid for re-election in the 2022 San Bernardino mayoral election. In 2021, Valdivia became the first elected official in 20 years to be censured by the San Bernardino City Council for alleged misuse of public funds.
Rita Ali is an American politician serving as the 47th mayor of Peoria, Illinois since 2021. She was elected on April 21, 2021, finishing just 43 votes ahead of her opponent, councilman Jim Montelongo. Ali was sworn in two weeks later on May 4, becoming both the first woman and the first African American to serve as mayor of Peoria. She has previously served on the Peoria City Council and has held a position as Vice President of Workforce and Diversity at Illinois Central College.
The Atlanta Eagle police raid was a police raid targeting the Atlanta Eagle, a gay bar in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The raid occurred on September 10, 2009, due to anonymous tips alleging that illegal drug use and sex was occurring at the bar. Several dozen officers were involved in the raid, including members of the Atlanta Police Department's vice squad and the "Red Dog Unit", a SWAT-like unit typically used in high drug use areas. None of the 62 bar patrons that night were arrested, although eight employees were. Seven of these employees were either found not guilty or had charges dropped against them, while one was not present at the trials and had a bench warrant issued against him.
The 2022 Illinois Attorney General election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the Attorney General of Illinois. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Kwame Raoul won re-election to a second term.
