Nancy Kaszak is an attorney and former Democratic 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 ...

. She was born September 21, 1950, in

Chicago Heights, Illinois Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,480 at the 2020 census. In earlier years, Chicago Heights was nicknamed "The Crossroads of the Nation". Currently, it is nicknamed "The Heights". Geograp ...

. She attended

Elmhurst College Elmhurst University is a private university in Elmhurst, Illinois. It has a tradition of service-oriented learning and an affiliation with the United Church of Christ. The university changed its name from Elmhurst College on July 1, 2020. Hist ...

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The unive ...

and

Northern Illinois University College of Law Northern Illinois University College of Law (NIU Law) is one of four public law schools in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is one of two public law schools in the Chicago area. The College of Law was founded as the Lewis University College of Law ...

. Kaszak is a former vice president of the Chicago Council of Lawyers, was a

Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st Mayor of Chicago. Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city's mayor in April 1983. He served as ma ...

appointee to the

Commission on Chicago Landmarks The Commission on Chicago Landmarks, established in 1968 by a Chicago City Ordinance, is composed of nine members appointed by the Mayor and the Chicago City Council. It is responsible for presenting recommendations of individual buildings, sites, o ...

, a leader of the Lakeview Citizens' Council, and a leader in the effort to prohibit lights at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

. In the 1987 aldermanic election, she received endorsements from the National Association of Women,

AFSCME The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is the largest trade union of public employees in the United States. It represents 1.3 million public sector employees and retirees, including health care workers, correcti ...

, IVI-IPO, and former Aldermen

William Singer William Singer is an American lawyer, politician, consultant, and lobbyist who the formerly served as a Chicago alderman, representing the 44th and 43rd wards during his aldermanic career. While on the Chicago City Council, Singer was an indep ...

and

Dick Simpson Richard Charles Simpson (born July 28, 1943) is an Americans, American former Major League Baseball right fielder and center fielder. He played from 1962-1969 for the Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles / California Angels, Cincinnati Reds, St. Loui ...

. She did not make it to the runoff election, in which

ally

Helen Shiller Helen Shiller (born 1947) is a former Alderman of the 46th ward in Chicago, Illinois. Shiller is also a published author, having written a 500-page book on her politics and activism in Chicago from 1971 to 2011. Shiller served in the Chicago Ci ...

defeated incumbent Alderman Jerome Orbach. In 1992, she ousted incumbent Alfred Ronan with the backing of

Richard Mell Richard F. "Dick" Mell (born May 5, 1938) is an American politician. A Democrat, he served on the Chicago City Council from 1975 to 2013. He retired in 2013 and was succeeded by Deb Mell, his daughter. Early life Mell was born and raised in Musk ...

. Her legislative committee assignments were the following: Committees on Constitutional Officers, Elections & State Government; Environment & Energy; Financial Institutions; Judiciary I. In 1993, she received Outstanding Freshman Legislator awards from the Illinois Hospital Association and the Illinois Health Care Association. In 1996, she vacated her seat to run for the Democratic nomination in

Illinois's 5th congressional district The 5th congressional district of Illinois covers parts of Cook and DuPage counties, as of the 2011 redistricting which followed the 2010 census. All or parts of Chicago, Elmhurst, Elmwood Park, Franklin Park, Hinsdale, La Grange Park, Nor ...

losing to future

Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...

and fellow State Representative

Rod Blagojevich Rod Blagojevich ( , born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nicknames "Blago" or "B-Rod", is an American former politician, political commentator, and convicted felon who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009, when ...

. She ran for the seat again in 2002, this time losing to

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...

. She endorsed

Gery Chico Gery J. Chico ( ; born August 24, 1956) is an American politician, Chicago lawyer, public official and former Democratic primary candidate for United States Senate. Chico served as the Chief of Staff to Mayor Richard M. Daley from 1992 to 1995, ...

in the 2011 mayoral election.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaszak, Nancy 1950 births Living people People from Chicago Heights, Illinois Politicians from Chicago Northern Illinois University alumni Elmhurst College alumni Roosevelt University alumni Illinois lawyers Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Women state legislators in Illinois