Bill Brady (politician)

William E. Brady (born May 15, 1961)[1] was a Republican member of the Illinois Senate from May 2002 until his resignation in December 2020.

Bill Brady
Minority Leader of the Illinois Senate
In office July 1, 2017 – December 31, 2020
Preceded by	Christine Radogno
Succeeded by	Dan McConchie
Member of the Illinois Senate from the 44th district
In office May 2002 – December 2020
Preceded by	John Maitland
Succeeded by	Sally Turner
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 88th district
In office January 1993 – January 2001
Preceded by	Gordon Ropp
Succeeded by	Dan Brady
Personal details
Born	May 15, 1961 Bloomington, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Nancy Brady
Children	3
Education	Illinois Wesleyan University (BA)

Brady also served in the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 88th District from 1993 to 2001 and was an unsuccessful canidate for Governor of Illinois in 2006, 2010, and 2014.

Early life, education and career

Brady was born on May 15, 1961, in Bloomington, Illinois. He graduated from Central Catholic High School and Illinois Wesleyan University.

A millionaire real estate developer and broker,[2] Brady is an owner of ReMax Choice and co-owner of Brady Homes, founded by his father, Bill Brady Sr.[3]

Illinois Legislature

In 1992, Bill Brady defeated seven term incumbent Gordon Ropp by a razor thin margin in the Republican primary.[4] Ten years later, Brady was appointed to the Illinois Senate in 2002 to succeed John Maitland.[5]

After the 2020 general election, the Republican caucus chose Senator Dan McConchie to take over as Minority Leader. On December 31, 2020, Brady announced that he would resign his seat in the Senate effective at the end of the day.[6] On January 25, 2021, it was reported that Sally Turner, former County Clerk of Logan County, was appointed to succeed Brady.[7]

Committees

Brady serves on the following committees:[8]

• Agriculture and Conservation
• Committee of the Whole
• Conference Committee on SB1
• Environment
• Insurance
• State Government &Veterans Affairs
• Transportation

Political campaigns

In 2000, Brady ran for the United States House of Representatives from Illinois's 15th congressional district after Republican incumbent Thomas W. Ewing announced his retirement. Brady lost the Republican primary to Tim Johnson.[9]

Brady ran for Governor of Illinois three times and was the Republican Nominee in 2010, but was ultimately unsuccessful in each run.

2006 gubernatorial election

Brady ran for governor in 2006.[10] He finished third in the Republican primary, getting about 18% of the vote.[11]

2010 gubernatorial election

In the 2010 gubernatorial election, he defeated his closest competitor, State Senator Kirk Dillard, by 193 votes in the GOP primary,[12] and faced incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Quinn and Green Party candidate Rich Whitney in November.[12] Brady's running mate was 28-year-old Jason Plummer, past Chairman of the Madison County Republican Party and, at the time, an intelligence officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve and vice president in his father's lumber business.[13] Despite winning 98 of Illinois's 102 counties, Brady lost to Quinn by around 32,000 votes out of 3,700,000.[14][15]

Results

Brady won 98 out of the 102 counties, winning all of the Chicago collar (suburban) counties. However, Quinn's huge win in Cook County which encompasses the Chicago Metropolitan Area, provided a large buffer of votes that Brady could not overcome. On election night, Quinn had an initial, large lead when results from Cook County were the first began to come in. Once suburban and rural precincts reported the vote tallies, Brady narrowed the gap, but Cook County provided enough votes to give the election to Governor Quinn. Brady conceded defeat on the following day, November 3. Quinn's win was ranked by Politico as the 7th biggest upset of the 2010 elections.

Illinois gubernatorial election, 2010[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Pat Quinn/Sheila Simon (Incumbent)	1,745,219	46.79%	-3.00%
	Republican	Bill Brady/Jason Plummer	1,713,385	45.94%	+6.68%
	Independent	Scott Lee Cohen	135,705	3.64%
	Green	Rich Whitney	100,756	2.70%	-7.66%
	Libertarian	Lex Green	34,681	0.93%
Plurality			31,834	0.85%	-9.68%
Turnout			3,729,746
	Democratic hold		Swing

2014 gubernatorial election

Brady announced his third bid for Illinois Governor on June 26, 2013.[17] His fellow GOP contenders were businessman Bruce Rauner, state treasurer Dan Rutherford, and Senator Kirk Dillard. Brady's running mate was Maria Rodriguez. She was initially courted by Bruce Rauner as a running mate. Rodriguez carried two terms as mayor of Long Grove, Illinois.[18] Brady was the lowest-funded of the four Republican candidates for the primary election, with only $273,000 in his campaign account at the end of 2013.[19] During his campaign, Brady made several swipes at competitor Bruce Rauner, including comparing Rauner to disgraced and jailed former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.[20] Among other things, Brady advocated for pension reform, reducing taxes, reforming worker's compensation, not increasing the minimum wage, and the dismantling of the Illinois State Board of Education.[21] Brady lost the GOP primary at third place with 15% of the vote.

Political positions

Death penalty

Brady intended to lift the moratorium on the death penalty if he became governor.[22]

Abortion

Brady is anti-abortion. He supports a ban on all abortions, including in cases of rape and incest. He makes an exception and allows abortion when a mother's life is at risk.[23][24][25] He has also backed legislation allowing pharmacists to refuse to dispense emergency contraception.<s to a managed care system – the type currently administered by many Health Management Organizations (HMOs) – to control the cost of health care.[26]

Gun control

Brady has stated that he is opposed to any further restrictions to the ownership of firearms in Illinois. He is also for legalizing concealed carry, which would allow a law-abiding, licensed Illinois resident to carry a handgun or other weapon in public in a concealed manner.[22][27]

Term limits

Brady has called for term limits in Illinois. He would limit legislators to five terms in the House (10 years) and three terms (18 years) in the Senate.[28]

Taxes

Brady has opposed efforts to raise state sales and income tax rates in Illinois. He favors reducing sales taxes that he claims drive retail jobs and businesses to other states. He favors dedicating a percentage of Illinois revenue to property tax relief and eliminating the estate tax in Illinois.

=

Personal life

Bill and his wife, Nancy, have three children and own a home in Bloomington.[1][29]

References

1. "Bill Brady". Ilga.gov. Archived from the original on 20 March 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
2. "Clout St: Tribune poll: Brady holds slim lead over Quinn". Newsblogs.chicagotribune.com. 2010-09-03. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
3. "Clout St: Inside Republican governor candidate Bill Brady's business deals". Newsblogs.chicagotribune.com. 2010-05-22. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
4. Amyllen L. Bodily and Michael D. Klemens (1992-04-01). "Election results: Good-bye status quo". Illinois Issues. Northern Illinois University. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
5. "Endorsements for Illinois Senate". Chicago Tribune. 2002-10-15. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
6. Miller, Rich (December 31, 2020). "Bill Brady to resign his seat". Capitol Fax. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
7. Miller, Rich (January 25, 2021). "Musical Chairs". Capitol Fax. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
8. "Senator William E. Brady (R), 44th District". Ilga.gov. Archived from the original on 3 August 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
9. Wilson, Doug (July 27, 2005). "Sen. Brady wants Republican nod to run for Illinois governor". Herald-Whig. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
10. State Journal-Register via Associated Press (2008-11-07). "Bill Brady says he will run for governor". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
11. Ballots Cast -GENERAL PRIMARY - 3/21/2006 Archived 2016-01-13 at the Wayback Machine. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
12. "Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball". Centerforpolitics.org. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
13. Long, Ray (2010-02-04). "Family fortune, social networks lift Plummer". ChicagoTribune.com. Chicago: Tribine Company. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
14. McDermott, Kevin (2010-11-07). "Pat Quinn defied pollsters, national wave to prevail". stltoday.com. St. Louis, Missouri: St. Louis Post Dispatch. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
15. "Ballots Cast". Elections.il.gov. Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 2014-12-22.
16. "General Election of November 2, 2010" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
17. Bond, Brendan (January 17, 2014). "Bill Brady 4th GOP candidate for governor in 2014". Reboot Illinois. Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
18. Heinzmann, David (February 26, 2014). "Running mate considers Bill Brady a kindred spirit". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
19. Erickson, Kurt (March 9, 2014). "Brady starts putting ads on TV". Herald & Review. Associated Press. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
20. "Bill Brady Compares Bruce Rauner to Blago". nbc Chicago. Associated Press. March 4, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
21. Sweeny, Chuck (February 26, 2014). "Chuck Sweeny: Illinois Sen. Bill Brady hopes to end education bureaucracy". JournalStandard.com. Associated Press. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
22. "Primary: Social Issues". Chicago Tribune Election Center. On the Issues: Candidates for Governor. Chicago: Tribune Company. 2010-01-26. Archived from the original on August 4, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
23. https://web.archive.org/web/20100207165608/http://bradyforillinois.com/2010/01/22/profile-illinois-state-sen-bill-brady-runs-for-the-gop-nomination-for-governor/. Archived from the original on February 7, 2010. Retrieved March 2, 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
24. Pearson, Rick (2007-01-07). "Bill Brady finds himself standing in a harsher light". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
25. "Illinois governor's race: Sen. Bill Brady accepts GOP nomination". Chicago Tribune. 2010-03-05. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
26. "The cost of Bill Brady's plan". Illinoistimes.com. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
27. Archived December 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
28. "abc7chicago.com - ABC7 WLS Chicago and Chicago News". ABC7 Chicago. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
29. "Bio - Bill Brady". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved November 25, 2014.

External links

• Bill Brady at Curlie
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Profile at Ballotpedia
• Rockford Register Star Endorsement

Governor campaign

• Bill Brady for Governor official campaign website

Illinois General Assembly

• Biography, bills and committees at the Illinois General Assembly
  • By session: 98th, 97th, 96th, 95th, 94th, 93rd
• Illinois State Senator Bill Brady constituency site
• Profile from Illinois State Senate Republicans