Roger A. Sommer is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Illinois Senate from 1973 to 1987.
Sommer was born November 6, 1943, in Peoria, Illinois. He was raised in Tazewell County, Illinois. He graduated from Morton High School. He then attended Bradley University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts, and the University of Virginia School of Law, receiving a Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the Virginia State Bar and later to practice law in Illinois. Sommer went on to serve as an Assistant Attorney General with the Office of the Illinois Attorney General. Sommer is a veteran of the United States Army. [1]
In 1972, Sommer was elected to the Illinois Senate representing the 45th district, which at that time, included all or portions of LaSalle, Putnam, Marshall, Woodford, and Tazewell counties in Central Illinois. [2] After the Cutback Amendment, the 45th was redistricted to include Marshall, Woodford, and Tazewell, McLean, Logan, DeWitt, Menard, and Sangamon counties. Sommer chose not to run for reelection in 1986. He was succeeded by fellow Republican Robert Madigan, then the City Clerk of Lincoln, Illinois. [3] [4] His papers are stored at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. [5]
In 1993, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Illinois Claims Court for a term ending in 1995. [6]
In 1999, his brother Keith, was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. [7] [8]
Woodford County is a county located in the state of Illinois. The 2010 United States Census listed its population at 38,664. Its county seat is Eureka. Woodford County is part of the Peoria, IL, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its name comes from General William Woodford, an officer of the American Revolutionary War who served at the brutal military encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
Tazewell County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 135,394. Its county seat and largest city is Pekin. It is pronounced with a short "a", to rhyme with "razz" rather than "raze."
Peoria County is located in the U.S. state of Illinois. The 2020 United States Census listed its population at 181,830. Its county seat is Peoria. Peoria County is part of the Peoria, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Richard Buell Ogilvie was the 35th governor of Illinois and served from 1969 to 1973. A wounded combat veteran of World War II, he became known as the mafia-fighting sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, in the 1960s before becoming governor.
Littleton Waller Tazewell was a Virginia lawyer, plantation owner and politician who served as U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator and the 26th Governor of Virginia, as well as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
William Lewis Dayton was an American politician, active first in the Whig Party and later in the Republican Party. In the 1856 presidential election, he became the first Republican vice-presidential nominee when nominated alongside John C. Frémont. The Republican Party lost that campaign. During the American Civil War, Dayton served as the United States Ambassador to France, a position in which he worked to prevent French recognition of the Confederate States of America.
Judy Koehler is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Appellate Court Justice.
Richard Yates was the Governor of Illinois during the American Civil War and has been considered one of the most effective war governors. He took energetic measures to secure Cairo and St. Louis against rebel attack. Nicknamed the "Soldiers' Friend", he helped organize the Illinois contingent of Union soldiers, including commissioning Ulysses S. Grant as a colonel for an Illinois regiment. He supported the Emancipation Proclamation. He also represented Illinois in the United States House of Representatives (1851–1855) and in the U.S. Senate (1865–1871). As a Senator, he voted and spoke in favor of removing President Andrew Johnson from office. He was a Whig and then a Republican.
Lee A. Daniels is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1975 until 2007 including two years as Speaker of the House.
Keith P. Sommer is a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives since 1999. Sommer currently represents the 88th district which includes the cities of Morton, Washington, and Bloomington.
George Edward Sangmeister was an American politician and United States Representative from Illinois. He originally represented Illinois' 4th congressional district, before it was renumbered as the 11th district.
James Peyton "Pate" Philip, is an American politician. A longtime Republican member of the Illinois General Assembly, Philip served both the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate including a decade as the President of the Illinois Senate. He was known as a highly influential politician, both for the projects that he passed and blocked in state government and for his often-blunt comments.
David Davis was an American politician and jurist who was a U.S. senator from Illinois and associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. He also served as Abraham Lincoln's campaign manager at the 1860 Republican National Convention, engineering Lincoln's successful nomination for president by that party.
Abraham Lincoln Marovitz was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Charles H. Constable was an American attorney, Illinois State Senator, judge, and real estate entrepreneur. He was raised in Maryland and graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Law. After settling in Illinois, he married the oldest daughter of Thomas S. Hinde, a pioneer and real estate developer. Initially, he practiced law in Mount Carmel, Illinois, the town founded by Hinde. He managed the business and real estate affairs of his father-in-law until Hinde died in 1846.
Jonathan C. Wright is an American politician who currently serves as a judge in Illinois's 11th Circuit. A member of the Republican Party, he served a partial term in the Illinois House of Representatives from June 21, 2001, until January 8, 2003, and served as the State's Attorney for Logan County, Illinois from December 3, 2012, to December 7, 2018.
Claude Ulysses "Bud" Stone was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Illinois Senate during the 92nd General Assembly. He was born April 30, 1926 to former Democratic Congressman Claude U. Stone and his wife Alma Marie Stone. He was raised in Peoria, Illinois, and graduated from Peoria High School. He earned a Bachelor of Science in economics from Cornell University, a Bachelor of Science in business marketing from Bradley University and a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University, in 1948, 1949 and 1951 respectively. In 1953, he married his wife, Mary Louise, with whom he had three children. In 1956, he became a Republican precinct committeeman, which began a lifetime of activism with the Republican Party including a tenure as chairman of the Tazewell County Republican Party in the 1990s. In 1985, he retired as an executive with Caterpillar Inc.
John Linebaugh Knuppel was an American politician and Democratic member of the Illinois Senate from 1971 until 1981.
William Beatty Archer was an Illinois politician and businessman. Archer was a member of the Illinois General Assembly from 1825 until 1843, during which time he also served on the state Board of Canal Commissioners and unsuccessfully ran for higher office twice. He also founded the city of Marshall, Illinois, was a captain in the Black Hawk War, and supported Abraham Lincoln's vice presidential nomination at the first Republican National Convention in 1856.
Armistead Abraham "Cousin Abe" Lilly was an American lawyer, politician, and businessperson in the U.S. state of West Virginia. A Republican, Lilly served as the 16th Attorney General of West Virginia from March 4, 1913 until March 3, 1917.