James F. Rea (born September 7, 1937) is an American politician. Rea was born in Mulkeytown, Illinois. He served in the United States Military. Rea received his bachelor's and master's degree in agriculture community development from the

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

. Rea lived with his wife and family in

Christopher, Illinois Christopher is a city in Franklin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,382 at the time of the 2010 census. History Christopher was founded in 1879 as a railroad stop, and named for Christopher Harrison, a grandson of prominent ...

. Rea served in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

from 1979 to 1989 and was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. After

Glenn Poshard Glendal William Poshard (born October 30, 1945) is an American educator and former politician who served as a Illinois State Senator and U.S. Congressman. He was also a Illinois gubernatorial candidate, and president of the Southern Illinois Uni ...

was elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, Rea was appointed to the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state, State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adop ...

. Rea was succeeded in the House by Larry D. Woolard. Rea then served in the Illinois Senate from 1989 to 1999. Rea stepped down to take a position with the

Illinois Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Illinois is one of the six elected executive state offices of the government of Illinois, and one of the 47 secretaries of states in the United States. The Illinois Secretary of State keeps the state records, laws, libr ...

. Ned Mitchell, the Mayor of Sesser, was appointed by local Democratic Party chairs to succeed Rea.

Notes

1937 births Living people People from Christopher, Illinois Military personnel from Illinois Southern Illinois University alumni Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Democratic Party Illinois state senators {{Illinois-Ilrepresentative-stub