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Jim Edgar
James Robert Edgar (July 22, 1946 – September 14, 2025) was an American politician who served as the 38th governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999. A moderate Republican, he previously served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1977 to 1979 and as the 35th Secretary of State of Illinois from 1981 to 1991.
Edgar was born in Vinita, Oklahoma, and raised in Charleston, a city in Central Illinois. Beginning his political career as a legislative aide, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1976 and reelected in 1978. In 1979, while still in his second term, Edgar was appointed the director of legislative affairs for Governor Jim Thompson.
Following Secretary of State Alan J. Dixon's election to the U.S. Senate in 1980, Thompson appointed Edgar to serve the remainder of Dixon's term. Edgar would go on to win a full term in 1982 and was reelected by a significant margin in 1986 in a race complicated by a LaRouchian candidate on the Democratic ticket.
Edgar ran successfully for Governor of Illinois in the 1990 election, narrowly defeating incumbent Attorney General Neil Hartigan. During the Republican Revolution of '94, he won reelection in a historic landslide over the Democratic state comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch—winning 101 of the state's 102 counties, including Cook County. He declined to run for a third term in 1998 and subsequently retired from public office.
James Robert Edgar was born on July 22, 1946, in Vinita, Oklahoma, to Cecil and Betty Edgar. Cecil, a small-businessman from Charleston, Illinois, died in an automobile accident in 1953, leaving Jim and his two older brothers to be raised by their mother.
To support her children, Betty Edgar worked as a clerk at Eastern Illinois University, where Edgar would later attend. While at Eastern, Edgar served as student body president. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in history in 1968.
Edgar developed an interest in politics at a young age. Though his parents were both Democrats, Edgar became a Republican while in elementary school after following the 1952 campaign of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
A young Rockefeller Republican, Edgar briefly volunteered for the presidential campaign of Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton in the 1964 Republican primaries and supported New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1968.
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Jim Edgar
James Robert Edgar (July 22, 1946 – September 14, 2025) was an American politician who served as the 38th governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999. A moderate Republican, he previously served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1977 to 1979 and as the 35th Secretary of State of Illinois from 1981 to 1991.
Edgar was born in Vinita, Oklahoma, and raised in Charleston, a city in Central Illinois. Beginning his political career as a legislative aide, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1976 and reelected in 1978. In 1979, while still in his second term, Edgar was appointed the director of legislative affairs for Governor Jim Thompson.
Following Secretary of State Alan J. Dixon's election to the U.S. Senate in 1980, Thompson appointed Edgar to serve the remainder of Dixon's term. Edgar would go on to win a full term in 1982 and was reelected by a significant margin in 1986 in a race complicated by a LaRouchian candidate on the Democratic ticket.
Edgar ran successfully for Governor of Illinois in the 1990 election, narrowly defeating incumbent Attorney General Neil Hartigan. During the Republican Revolution of '94, he won reelection in a historic landslide over the Democratic state comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch—winning 101 of the state's 102 counties, including Cook County. He declined to run for a third term in 1998 and subsequently retired from public office.
James Robert Edgar was born on July 22, 1946, in Vinita, Oklahoma, to Cecil and Betty Edgar. Cecil, a small-businessman from Charleston, Illinois, died in an automobile accident in 1953, leaving Jim and his two older brothers to be raised by their mother.
To support her children, Betty Edgar worked as a clerk at Eastern Illinois University, where Edgar would later attend. While at Eastern, Edgar served as student body president. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in history in 1968.
Edgar developed an interest in politics at a young age. Though his parents were both Democrats, Edgar became a Republican while in elementary school after following the 1952 campaign of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
A young Rockefeller Republican, Edgar briefly volunteered for the presidential campaign of Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton in the 1964 Republican primaries and supported New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1968.
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