Ted E. Leverenz (June 19, 1941 – April 8, 2020) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...

from 1975 to 1993.

Biography

Leverenz was born June 19, 1941, in

Blue Island, Illinois Blue Island is a city in Cook County, Illinois, located approximately south of Chicago's Loop. Blue Island is adjacent to the city of Chicago and shares its northern boundary with that city's Morgan Park neighborhood. The population was 22,558 ...

. He was educated at

Carl Sandburg High School Carl Sandburg High School, Sandburg, or CSHS, is a public four-year high school located at the intersection of La Grange Road and Southmoor Drive in Orland Park, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part ...

Orland Park, Illinois Orland Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion in Will County. The village is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, Orland Park had a population of 58,703. Located 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Chicago ...

, and

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 ...

Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale is a city in Jackson and Williamson Counties, Illinois, United States, within the Southern Illinois region informally known as "Little Egypt". The city developed from 1853 because of the stimulation of railroad construction into the ...

. Leverenz worked as a business consultant. He was elected to 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 one of three members from the 5th legislative district. After the passage of 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 ...

, he was elected to represent the 51st district. During his time in the House, he rose to become the Chairman of the House's Appropriations Committee. In the early 1990s he 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 ...

. In the 1991 decennial reapportionment, Leverenz was gerrymandered by the Republican Party into a heavily Republican district that included a large swath of what was then staunchly-Republican

DuPage County DuPage County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, and one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 932,877, making it Illinois' second-most populous county. Its county seat is ...

. He was defeated in the 1992 general election by Republican candidate Daniel Cronin. Leverenz died on April 8, 2020. He was 78 years old.Ted Leverenz-obituary
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leverenz, Ted 1941 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American politicians Democratic Party Illinois state senators Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives People from Blue Island, Illinois People from Maywood, Illinois Businesspeople from Illinois Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumni