Kevin Kehoe is an American attorney who served as a Democratic member of 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 ...

from May 1998 until January 1999.

Biography

Kehoe was born and raised in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. Kehoe earned a bachelor's degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and a

juris doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the Saint Louis University School of Law. He later lived in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

before moving to

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...

in 1990. In 1992, he was elected to the Macon County Board and in 1994 became its chairman. He chose to step down from the Chairman position in 1995 to focus on his private law practice. In 1998, he was appointed to succeed the late

Penny Severns Penny Severns (1952–1998) was a member of the Illinois Senate who represented the 51st Senate District from 1987 until her death in February 1998. Early life Severns was born January 21, 1952, in Decatur, Illinois. After graduating high school ...

in the

. The Senate district he represented, located in

Central Illinois Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central third of the state, divided from north to south. Also known as the ''Heart of Illinois'', it is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. Agri ...

, included all or parts of Macon,

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, Piatt, Champaign, Coles,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, Moultrie, and Effingham. Kehoe lost the 1998 general election to

Duane Noland N. Duane Noland (born September 12, 1956) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a Republican member of the Illinois General Assembly first in the Illinois House of Representatives and later in the Illinois Senate. Biography Born in ...

, a Republican 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 ...

. As of 2014, he was the President of the Business Center Of Decatur; a

business incubator Business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services starting with management training and office space and ending with venture ca ...

and consulting services provider.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kehoe, Kevin Democratic Party Illinois state senators People from Decatur, Illinois 20th-century American legislators County board members in Illinois Saint Louis University School of Law alumni Columbia University alumni Illinois lawyers Businesspeople from Illinois 20th-century Illinois politicians