Robert C. Winchester is an American politician from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. An active member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

, he served as 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 ...

from 1975 until 1985.

Early life

Winchester was born April 21, 1945, in

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missour ...

. He was raised in

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

and Pulaski counties in downstate Illinois. When he was 11, his father died in what was ruled a suicide, though later research reveals this may not have been the case. He graduated from

Southern Illinois University Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU or SIUC) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Founded in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university enrolls students from all 50 s ...

. He then took jobs with the

Illinois Department of Corrections The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) is the code department of the Illinois state government that operates the adult state prison system. The IDOC is led by a director appointed by the Governor of Illinois, and its headquarters are in Sp ...

and Illinois Department of Procurement.

Illinois House of Representatives

He was first elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1974. In 1984, Winchester ran for 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 ...

, but lost to Democratic candidate

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 Univ ...

Post-legislative career

In 1988, Winchester ran for his old seat against Democratic incumbent

David D. Phelps David Dwain Phelps (born October 26, 1947) is an American educator and politician and former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois. Early life Phelps was born in Eldorado, Illinois. He graduated from Southern Il ...

and lost. In 1989, Winchester was appointed the head of the Office of Resource Marketing and Education in the

Illinois Department of Conservation The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is the code department of the Illinois state government that operates the state parks and state recreation areas, enforces the fishing and game laws of Illinois, regulates Illinois coal mines, ...

with responsibilities for special events and marketing. In 1999,

George Ryan George Homer Ryan (born February 24, 1934) is an American former politician and member of the Republican Party who served as the 39th governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003. Elected in 1998, Ryan received national attention for his 1999 mor ...

hired Winchester to serve as his Deputy Chief of Staff overseeing the newly created ''Office of Southern Illinois''. In the

2016 Republican Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses of the Republican Party took place within all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories between February 1 and June 7, 2016. These elections selected the 2,472 delegates that were se ...

, Winchester ran to be elected as a delegate to the

2016 Republican National Convention The 2016 Republican National Convention, in which delegates of the United States Republican Party chose the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, was held July 18–21, 2016, at Quicken Lo ...

pledged to the

presidential campaign President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of Florida Senator

Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida Hous ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winchester, Robert 1945 births 20th-century American legislators Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Living people Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumni People from Paducah, Kentucky 20th-century Illinois politicians