Peter Fitzgerald (politician)

Peter Fitzgerald
United States Senator from Illinois
In office January 3, 1999 –January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Carol Moseley Braun
Succeeded by	Barack Obama
Illinois State Senator from the 27th District
In office January 13, 1993 – November 16, 1998
Preceded by	Virginia B. Macdonald
Succeeded by	Wendell E. Jones
Personal details
Born	Peter Gosselin Fitzgerald (1960-10-20) October 20, 1960 Elgin, Illinois, U.S.
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Nina Kerstiens
Alma mater	Dartmouth College Aristotelian University University of Michigan
Religion	Roman Catholic

Peter Gosselin Fitzgerald (born October 20, 1960) is a former United States Senator from Illinois. He served from 1999 to 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously served in the Illinois State Senate from 1992 to 1998.

Early life

Born in Elgin, Illinois, one of five children of Gerald Francis and Marjorie (née Gosselin) Fitzgerald,^[1] he graduated from Portsmouth Abbey School, a Catholic boarding school in 1978, and from Dartmouth College in 1982. He completed his post-graduate studies as a Rotary Scholar at Aristotelian University in Greece, and earned his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1986. His family has been continuously involved in commercial banking since the mid-1940s. His father built Suburban Bancorp, a chain of suburban banks, by aggressively founding and buying banks around the Chicago suburbs, which he sold in 1994 to a subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal for $246 million.

Political career

Fitzgerald was first elected to the state Senate in 1992. While State Senator he was a member of a group of conservative state senators elected in 1992 who often challenged the leadership of the Illinois Republican Party and were dubbed the "Fab Five", the group also included, Steve Rauschenberger, Dave Syverson, Patrick O'Malley and Chris Lauzen.^[2]

After a hard-fought primary victory against Illinois Comptroller Loleta Didrickson, in which the latter had the support of most national and state-level Republican leaders, Fitzgerald defeated first-term Democratic incumbent U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun in 1998, and served for one term in the U.S. Senate. He was the first Republican in Illinois to win a U.S. Senate race in 20 years, and the only Republican challenger in the country to defeat an incumbent Democratic senator in the 1998 election cycle. Although Moseley Braun was dogged by negative publicity of corruption charges, Fitzgerald defeated her by only 2.9%.

Fitzgerald is a staunch conservative on such issues as opposition to abortion (except to save the life of the mother), gun control, gay marriage and taxes, but on some issues, particularly environmental issues — he opposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge throughout his tenure in the US Senate — he broke with conservative colleagues. He was one of only a handful of GOP Senators to support the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation.

Political maverick

Throughout his tenure in the Senate, Fitzgerald battled with the state Republican Party leadership. He insisted on the appointment of an out-of-state US attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald (unrelated^[3]), to investigate corruption in the Illinois state government. Several indictments resulted, including that of former Republican Governor George Ryan, who was later convicted of several criminal abuses of authority, and Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted of attempting to sell the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama.

Fitzgerald declined to run for reelection largely because many Republican insiders who had failed to support him in his first run in 1998 had made it clear he would not have their support in 2004 either. In 2009, conservative journalist John Fund wrote:

"Sen. Fitzgerald also labeled an Illinois congressional delegation 'wish list' of $600 million in projects being submitted to President Bush as a 'mega-hog letter ... The mere fact that a project is located somewhere within the state of Illinois does not mean that it is inherently meritorious", he wrote to speaker Hastert, who called such criticism 'grandstanding' ... [T]he senator accused GOP governor George Ryan, now serving a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence on a corruption conviction, of opposing competitive bidding rules so he could dole money to political allies. 'I want Illinois to get a $150 million (Abraham Lincoln) library, not a $50 million library that just happens to cost $150 million', Fitzgerald told fellow senators."^[4]

Fitzgerald's resignation from the Republican Senatorial Trust raised eyebrows because many questioned his allegiance to the party.^[5]

Controversial opposition to 9-11 airline bailout

Fitzgerald had two major moments in the spotlight in the Senate, the first in 2000 when he filibustered a massive federal spending bill because it included funds for the Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield. He did it to bring to light the Republican-controlled Illinois state government's failure to promise competitive bidding for the project. His second major moment was following the September 11, 2001 attacks, when Congress quickly passed a massive bailout measure for most of the major airlines, which were in trouble financially. Standing alone out of all members of the U.S. Senate, Fitzgerald delivered a speech entitled "Who will bail out the American taxpayer",^[6] arguing that the airlines would simply go through the money and remain financially unstable.] The bill passed 99 to 1. Fitzgerald retired from the Senate at the end of his first and only term. He was succeeded by Democrat Barack Obama, who went on to be elected President of the United States.

Post-political career

Fitzgerald is Chairman of Chain Bridge Bank, N.A. in McLean, Virginia.^[7][8] He serves on the Board of Trustees of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, which is a museum dedicated to the U.S. Constitution.^[9]

Electoral history

• 1998 Republican Primary - U.S. Senate
  • Peter Fitzgerald (R), 51.83%
  • Loleta Didrickson (R), 48.17%
• 1998 General Election - U.S. Senate
  • Peter Fitzgerald (R), 50.35%
  • Carol Moseley Braun (D) (inc.), 47.44%

References

External links

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Federal Election Commission — Peter G Fitzgerald campaign finance reports and data
• New York Times — Topics: Peter G. Fitzgerald collected news and commentary
• On the Issues — Peter Fitzgerald issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org — Peter G. Fitzgerald campaign contributions

United States Senators from Illinois Class 2 Thomas McLean Baker Robinson McRoberts Semple S. Douglas Browning Richardson Yates Logan Davis Cullom Lewis McCormick Deneen Lewis Slattery Brooks P. Douglas Percy Simon Durbin Class 3 Edwards McLean Kane Ewing Young Breese Shields Trumbull Oglesby Logan Farwell Palmer Mason Hopkins Lorimer Sherman McKinley Glenn Dieterich Lucas Dirksen Smith Stevenson III Dixon Moseley Braun Fitzgerald Obama Burris Kirk