 |
|
|
 |
Illinois |
After graduating from law school I began work at the Kendall County State’s Attorney office in Yorkville. When I began there I had no plans of running for office or becoming politically active. The state’s attorney at the time was Dallas Ingemunson who was also the Kendall County Republican Chairman and someone who was very active in Illinois politics. I began traveling with Dallas to various political events and eventually began working on campaigns including Congressman Denny Hastert’s. It was this exposure that gave me an interest in running for office and led to me running for State Representative in 1992. I attended Illinois Weslyan University and I also have a law degree from Cumberland law school in Alabama. The salary for the House Minority Leader is $81,007 Each day is different in my current role as State Representative and the House Minority Leader. When we are in session I am spending much of my time in Springfield working to pass bills I have sponsored and voting for legislation on the House floor. As the minority leader I meet with many members of the House Republican caucus to help advance their priorities. Additionally I spend a lot of time meeting with folks from Plainfield, Oswego, Aurora, Naperville and Shorewood to hear their ideas and concerns about our area. When we are not in session I am busy attending events, responding to letters and calls from those I represent, communicating with local officials, and traveling across the state giving speeches and recruiting candidates for State Representative. One aspect of being a State Representative in the minority party is that you cannot control what bills are called. It takes a great amount of patience and an ability to work with many different people in order to achieve legislative success as a member of the minority party. To be successful in this role you need to be a good listener and have an open mind as to how various people’s concerns and needs may be different than your own but are as important to them and must be handled in the proper manner. The best part of this job is it gives me a chance to meet so many different people from all over the state. It is also very rewarding to be able to solve problems. Whether it is an individual constituent’s issue, or getting a road expanded, or helping a school receive funds for new facilities, I greatly enjoy seeing projects through to a positive ending. The hardest part of the job is not getting frustrated when you are unable to enact ideas you know would benefit the people you represent. Sometimes government moves very slow and that can be frustrating to me as well. However, I wake up every morning excited about the task at hand and have enjoyed this job more than any other place I have ever worked. |
 |