Judy Koehler (born September 20, 1941) is an American politician who served as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of 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 ...

and

Illinois Appellate Court The Illinois Appellate Court is the court of first appeal for civil and criminal cases rising in the Illinois Circuit Courts. Three Illinois Appellate Court judges hear each case and the concurrence of two is necessary to render a decision. The ...

Justice.

Illinois House of Representatives

Koehler was first elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1980, defeating incumbent Representative Donald Anderson in the Republican primary. Koehler received the most votes in the primary, in which the two candidates receiving the most votes were nominated."Upsets scored on both sides in state Legislature bids", ''

The Pantagraph ''The Pantagraph'' is a daily newspaper that serves Bloomington–Normal, Illinois, along with 60 communities and eight counties in the Central Illinois area. Its headquarters are in Bloomington and it is owned by Lee Enterprises. The name is d ...

'' October 17, 1980. p. A5. Koehler also received the most votes in the general election, in which the three candidates receiving the most votes were elected."State Representative", ''

'' November 6, 1980. p. A2. Koehler first represented the 45th district, but after the

Cutback Amendment The Cutback Amendment (formally named the "Size of State House of Representatives Amendment"; and also known as both "Amendment 1" and the "Legislative Article") is an amendment to the Illinois Constitution that abolished multi-member districts in ...

was redistricted into the 89th district with fellow incumbent Republican Representative John "Jay" Ackerman. The 89th district included all or parts of

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, Stark, Tazewell, and

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counties in north-central Illinois. Koehler defeated Ackerman by a wide margin."Koehler wins 89th", ''

'', March 17, 1982. p. A2. In the general election, Koehler defeated

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Mike McNally by more than a 3 to 1 margin."Election 82", ''

'', November 3, 1982. p. A4. Koehler was unopposed in the 1984 general election."Election 84", ''

'', November 8, 1984. p. A4. Koehler served as Representative for the 89th district until 1987."Democratic Senate Will Temper Reagan, Dixon Predicts", ''

'', November 7, 1986. p. A2. Koehler's district was based in north-central Illinois.Concluding House Choices
, ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', March 06, 1986. Retrieved October 30, 2016. Koehler opposed the $8,000 a year pay raise that the legislature voted to give itself in a lame-duck session in 1978, and returned $8,000 of her pay to the state treasury every year she was in office, returning a total of $48,000 over her 6 years in office.

1986 United States Senate election

In 1986, Koehler ran for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. Koehler defeated Inland Steel executive George Ranneywik in the Republican primary, but was unable to oust incumbent

Alan Dixon Alan John Dixon (July 7, 1927 – July 6, 2014) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served in the Illinois General Assembly from 1951 to 1971, as the Illinois Treasurer from 1971 to 1977, as the Illinois Secretary of ...

in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. She was succeeded in the Illinois House of Representatives by John "Jay" Ackerman, who she had defeated in the 1982 Republican primary for the seat.

Later career

In 1992, a graduate of

Loyola University Chicago School of Law Loyola University Chicago School of Law is the law school of Loyola University Chicago, in Illinois. Established in 1909, by the Society of Jesus, the Roman Catholic order of the Jesuits, the School of Law is located in downtown Chicago. Loyol ...

, Koehler was admitted to the Illinois State Bar. Koehler served as an assistant

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. In 1994, Koehler ran for

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

Illinois's 18th congressional district The 18th congressional district of Illinois covered central and western Illinois, including all of Jacksonville and Quincy and parts of Bloomington, Peoria, and Springfield. It was last represented by Republican Darin LaHood, who took of ...

to replace the retiring Republican

Robert H. Michel Robert Henry Michel (; March 2, 1923 – February 17, 2017) was an American Republican Party politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives for 38 years. He represented central Illinois' 18th congressional distric ...

. Koehler lost in the primary to Michel's Chief of Staff and endorsed successor

Ray LaHood Raymond H. LaHood (born December 6, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 16th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the ...

. Following her run for Congress, Koehler became senior legislative counsel of

Americans United for Life Americans United for Life (AUL) is an American anti-abortion law firm and advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1971, the group opposes abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, and certain contraceptiv ...

. In May 1998, Judy Koehler was appointed to the

Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the State of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five ap ...

Justice James Heiple, to fill the vacancy of Michael McCuskey, who had become a federal judge.Former lawmaker now on the bench
, ''Illinois Issues'', July/August 1998. Retrieved October 31, 2016. Koehler narrowly lost in her bid for election to the 3rd district Appellate Court Seat in 2000 to Democrat Mary McDade.Election Results: General Election - 11/7/2000

Illinois State Board of Elections The State Board of Elections (SBE) is an independent agency of the U.S. state of Illinois. The SBE, as an acronym, refers both to the eight-member bipartisan board of directors and to the agency that it oversees. The members of the SBE, who are a ...

. Retrieved October 30, 2016.

Electoral history

* Illinois House of Representatives District 45 Republican primary, 1980 ** Judy Koehler, 40,481, 52% ** John "Jay" Ackerman, 22,654, 29% ** Donald Anderson, 14,266, 18% * Illinois House of Representatives District 45 election, 1980 ** Judy Koehler (R), 92,386, 36% ** John "Jay" Ackerman (R), 77,403, 30% ** Joe Ozella, Jr. (D), 51,823, 20% ** Bernice Jackson (D), 36,946, 14% * Illinois House of Representatives District 89 Republican primary, 1982 ** Judy Koehler, 9,561, 72% ** John "Jay" Ackerman, 3,642, 28% * Illinois House of Representatives District 89 election, 1982 ** Judy Koehler (R), 25,393, 76% ** Mike McNally (D), 8,105, 24% * Illinois House of Representatives District 89 election, 1984 ** Judy Koehler (R), 127,475, 100% * Republican primary for United States Senate in Illinois, 1986 ** Judy Koehler, 266,214, 55% ** George Ranney, 217,720, 45% * United States Senate election in Illinois, 1986 **

(D), 2,033,783, 65% ** Judy Koehler (R), 1,053,734, 34% * Illinois's 18th congressional district Republican primary, 1994 **

, 33,956, 50% ** Judy Koehler, 26,809, 40% ** Dennis Lee Higgins, 6,959, 10% * 3rd District Appellate Court Republican primary, 2000Election Results: General Primary - 3/21/2000

. Retrieved October 30, 2016. ** Judy Koehler, 34,945, 34% ** Karen L. Kendall, 33,981, 33% ** Michael L. Closen, 33,981, 33% * 3rd District Appellate Court election, 2000 ** Mary McDade (D), 318,151, 51% ** Judy Koehler (R), 301,751, 49%

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koehler, Judy 1941 births Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court Living people Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Women state legislators in Illinois 21st-century American women 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American judges 20th-century American women judges Candidates in the 1986 United States elections Candidates in the 1994 United States elections People from Adams County, Illinois Western Illinois University alumni Loyola University Chicago School of Law alumni