The congressman from the 5th District is Mike Quigley, a Democrat who won a special election in April 2009 to succeed Democratic Rep. Rahm Emanuel after Emanuel was named President Obama’s White House chief of staff. Quigley grew up in the working-class suburb of Carol Stream in DuPage County. He graduated from Roosevelt University, got his law degree from Loyola University in Chicago, and practiced criminal law. He also taught political science part-time at Loyola. He started his career in politics as an aide to Ald. Bernard Hansen while studying for a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago. He got involved in a community battle to stop the addition of lights for night games at Wrigley Field, which is in the heart of an old, gentrified neighborhood. In 1998, Quigley was elected to the Cook County Board, where he became an independent voice and a frequent nemesis of board President John Stroger. He pushed reforms such as ending patronage jobs at the Cook County Forest Preserve District, promoted environmental action, and sponsored a proposal to allow gay and lesbian couples to register as domestic partners. In 2005, Quigley decided to challenge Stroger for board president, but later dropped out and backed Forrest Claypool, saying the two would have split the anti-incumbent vote if they had both remained in the race. Claypool repaid the favor by endorsing Quigley for the House seat. Read More

The congressman from the 5th District is Mike Quigley, a Democrat who won a special election in April 2009 to succeed Democratic Rep. Rahm Emanuel after Emanuel was named President Obama’s White House chief of staff. Quigley grew up in the working-class suburb of Carol Stream in DuPage County. He graduated from Roosevelt University, got his law degree from Loyola University in Chicago, and practiced criminal law. He also taught political science part-time at Loyola. He started his career in politics as an aide to Ald. Bernard Hansen while studying for a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago. He got involved in a community battle to stop the addition of lights for night games at Wrigley Field, which is in the heart of an old, gentrified neighborhood. In 1998, Quigley was elected to the Cook County Board, where he became an independent voice and a frequent nemesis of board President John Stroger. He pushed reforms such as ending patronage jobs at the Cook County Forest Preserve District, promoted environmental action, and sponsored a proposal to allow gay and lesbian couples to register as domestic partners. In 2005, Quigley decided to challenge Stroger for board president, but later dropped out and backed Forrest Claypool, saying the two would have split the anti-incumbent vote if they had both remained in the race. Claypool repaid the favor by endorsing Quigley for the House seat.

After Obama plucked Emanuel from the House, a long list of candidates jumped into the wide-open Democratic primary. State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz was endorsed by EMILY’s List. Ald. Patrick O’Connor and state Rep. John Fritchey had local party machine support. The appointment of Roland Burris to the Senate by impeached Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich became a campaign issue, with candidates seeking to burnish their credentials as reformers and attacking their opponents for having been associated with the disgraced governor. Fritchey suffered from having defended Burris at a legislative hearing in January 2009. Quigley ran a late ad comparing Feigenholtz to President Nixon, saying she had resorted to unfair campaign charges. That may have extinguished any lingering friendship between Quigley and Feigenholtz, who had dated briefly years earlier.

Quigley received key newspaper endorsements from the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune, the latter praising him for an “outstanding record of independent, reform-minded performance in office.” In a low-turnout event on March 3, Quigley won with 20% of the vote to 17% for Fritchey and 15% for Feigenholtz. He ran especially well in the “lakefront liberal” wards. Fritchey’s support from organization bosses and Feigenholtz’s backing by women’s groups failed to deliver. Quigley then breezed to victory in the April 7 general election against Republican Rosanna Pulido.

In the House, Quigley has sought to establish himself as a reform-minded Democrat who is unafraid to ruffle feathers. Shortly after taking office, he supported Arizona Republican Rep. Jeff Flake’s push for an ethics investigation of then-Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa. and other senior appropriators. He co-founded the Congressional Transparency Caucus and introduced legislation requiring lobbyists to disclose the name of each affected executive branch official and the office of each member of Congress and staff with whom they meet. He also sponsored a bill requiring lawmakers to file financial disclosure forms electronically. He joined fellow Oversight and Government Reform Committee member Paul Hodes, D-N.H., in October 2009 in calling for a formal investigation of Countrywide Financial’s “VIP” mortgage program that allegedly offered favorable deals to federal officials.

On the Judiciary Committee, Quigley joined Republicans in November 2009 to support retaining a section of the USA Patriot Act making it easier for investigators to monitor phone calls of suspected “lone wolf” terrorists. In 2010, he complained about the Democratic leadership’s decision to move a campaign finance bill that exempted the National Rifle Association from disclosing its membership rolls and the donors behind its political ads.

Quigley coasted to re-election in 2010 with 71% of the vote. In the weeks leading up to the election, he toyed with the idea of running in 2011 to succeed retiring Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley but decided not to join the crowded field that included Emanuel among the aspirants. In the end, Emanuel was elected Chicago mayor.