Debbie Halvorson (D-IL-2)
Deborah L. “Debbie” Halvorson
Debbie Halvorson Congressional Candidate Illinois District 2
Biography of Debbie Halvorson from Debbie Halvorson for Congress
Dedicated public servant. Relentless fighter. Pioneer.
Debbie is the former Representative for the 11th Congressional District of Illinois. Prior to her election to Congress, Debbie served 12 years in the Illinois State Senate, and made history as the first woman to serve as Democratic Majority Leader. She is running to represent the people of the newly-drawn 2nd Congressional District.
Background
Debbie Halvorson is a graduate of Bloom Township High School in Chicago Heights. As a working mother, she earned degrees from Robert Morris College and Prairie State College, and earned her Master’s Degree in Communication from Governors State University. She attended the Darden School for Emerging Political Leaders at the University of Virginia and completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University.
Halvorson was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996, defeating an 18 year Republican incumbent. Prior to entering the Senate, Halvorson spent 14 years as a small businesswoman and served as Crete Township Clerk from April 1993 to December 1996. She is married to Jim Bush, who is a graduate of Thornton Township High School in Harvey. They have four children and four grandchildren. Debbie, the daughter of a veteran, the wife of a veteran and the mother of a son currently serving in the US Army, is proud to be in one of the many military families living in the south suburbs of Chicago.
Legislative History
Debbie Halvorson earned the reputation of being one of the hardest working legislators in Springfield as a State Senator representing communities from Chicago Heights to Kankakee. She consistently led the charge to protect Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens. She supported the creation of All Kids, Illinois’ innovative health care program for children. Halvorson also created a first-in-the-nation program that offered every senior and disabled person in Illinois cheaper prescription drugs. Halvorson championed legislation to increase penalties for Internet sexual predators and has also been a passionate advocate for victims of domestic violence.
When Halvorson went to Congress she once again earned the reputation of being one of the hardest working representatives in the House–flying home to meet with constituents every weekend, was additionally being elected the President of the freshman class. She successfully worked with veterans in the community and the Veterans Administration to bring a VA mega-clinic to the south suburbs. She led an effort to create over 7,000 jobs at CenterPoint Intermodal facility and fought for infrastructure funding and other investments to save or create 8,600 jobs. As a member of the Small Business Committee, Halvorson worked on legislation to increase access to capital for small businesses that create jobs in their communities.
While in Congress, Debbie was one of President Obama’s top supporters. In fact, she has a 90% record of support for the President’s initiatives—one of the highest in Illinois. She supported President Obama’s jobs bill because she knows what it’s like to face tough times. Growing up, she had reduced lunch, and as she says “learned to love mayonnaise sandwiches” because that’s all her family could afford. She supported the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s healthcare legislation, because she knows what its like to only go to the doctor or the emergency room when she was sick and to watch her mother have to make difficult choices when she faced breast cancer with no health insurance.
Biography of Debbie Halvorson from Congress.gov
a Representative from Illinois
born in Chicago Heights, Cook County, Ill., March 1, 1958
Education:
A. G. S., Prairie State College, Chicago Heights, Ill., 1998
B. A., Governors State University, University Park, Ill., 2001
M. A., Governors State University, University Park, Ill., 2003
Business owner
Manager
Government
Clerk, Crete Township, Ill., 1993-1996
Member of Illinois state senate, 1997-2008
Majority leader of Illinois state senate, 2005-2008
Elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Eleventh Congress (January 3, 2009-January 3, 2011)
unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Twelfth Congress in 2010.
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