Thomas A. Dunn (born October 12, 1942) is a member of the

Illinois Gaming Board Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) is a gaming board in Illinois that controls the state's gaming industry. The Board controls a regulatory and tax collection for video gaming and riverboat casinos. The Board has a five members, selected by the Govern ...

. Prior to this, he 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 ...

and an associate judge in the Will County court system.

Biography

Dunn was born October 12, 1942, to Francis and Helen Dunn in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the cit ...

. He graduated from

Joliet Catholic High School Joliet Catholic Academy (Joliet Catholic or JCA) is a coed Catholic high school in Joliet, Illinois. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet. One of the oldest Catholic high schools in the Chicago area, Joliet Catholic is perhaps be ...

and went to work as a truck driver while attending

St. Ambrose College St Ambrose College is a Christian Brothers' Roman Catholic boys' grammar school in Hale Barns, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It was founded in 1946 by Dr Joseph Robertson. In 2012 the school became an academy, and was completely re-b ...

. He graduated from St. Ambrose in 1964. In 1966, he joined the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

where he flew over 200 missions as a helicopter machine gunner during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. During his two-year military career, he was awarded four

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

s, Permanent Air Combat Wings, and a Presidential Unit Citation. He graduated from DePaul University College of Law in 1971. During his legal career he worked in the office of the

Cook County Public Defender The Cook County Public Defender provides legal representation for indigent clients in the areas of felony and misdemeanor criminal cases, delinquency, abuse/neglect, some appeals, post-conviction and traffic (non-petty) cases when appointed by the ...

and as a partner in the Joliet law firm of Dunn, Martin and Miller. He served for a time as a member of the Illinois Democratic Central Committee. In 1986, he was elected to the Illinois Senate to succeed

George E. Sangmeister George Edward Sangmeister (February 16, 1931 – October 7, 2007) was an American politician and United States Representative from Illinois. He originally represented Illinois' 4th congressional district, before it was renumbered as the 11th ...

in the 42nd district. The 42nd included the Joliet,

New Lenox New Lenox is a village in central Will County, Illinois, United States. It is a southwestern suburb of Chicago and an eastern suburb of Joliet. The village population was 27,214 as of 2020. New Lenox has schools like Lincoln-Way West High School ...

, Frankfort, and Lockport townships in Will County. In the 1991 Republican controlled decennial redistricting process, Dunn was drawn into the 43rd district with fellow Democratic incumbent Jerome J. Joyce. The new 43rd included portions of Will, Kankakee and

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

counties. Jerome Joyce opted to retire early. Neither he or his successor and wife Janet J. Joyce opted to challenge Dunn for the Democratic nomination. In the general election, Dunn faced Democrat-turned-Republican

Charles Pangle Charles L. "Chuck" Pangle (June 5, 1941 – December 25, 2015) was an American businessman and politician. Born in Bradley, Illinois, Pangle graduated from Bradley Bourbonnais Community High School and then served in the United States Navy. H ...

of Bradley. During his time in the Senate, Dunn was the chief advocate to bring

riverboat gambling A riverboat casino is a type of casino on a riverboat found in several states in the United States with frontage on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, or along the Gulf Coast. Several states authorized this type of casino in order to en ...

to help his district. This came to fruition with the opening of

Harrah's Joliet Harrah's Joliet is a riverboat casino in Joliet, Illinois, outside Chicago, operated by Caesars Entertainment. It has 1,138 slot machines, 204 hotel rooms, and 4 restaurants. History The city began a downtown revitalization effort called Joliet ...

in 1993. He voted against the proposed Lake Calumet Airport in

Hegewisch, Chicago Hegewisch (pronounced "heg-wish" by the locals) is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's far south side. It is bordered by the neighborhoods of Riverdale and South Deering to the west, the East Side to th ...

and opposed repurposing the

Joliet Arsenal Joliet Army Ammunition Plant (JOAAP, formerly known as the Joliet Arsenal) was a United States Army arsenal located in Will County, Illinois, near Elwood, Illinois, south of Joliet, Illinois. Opened in 1940 during World War II, the facility consis ...

for similar airport use. He served as a member of the Illinois Task Force on Crime and Corrections. Governor Jim Edgar charged the task force with the responsibilities to study future space needs, including costs, for correctional facilities; consider cost-effective alternatives to imprisonment; analyze current policies, statutes and sentencing procedures that affect inmate population; and identify solutions that protect both taxpayers' safety and their pocketbooks. In 1997, he resigned upon his appointment to a judgeship. He was succeeded by Will County Democratic Party Chairman Larry Walsh of

Elwood Elwood may refer to any one of the following:: Places ;In Australia *Elwood, Victoria ;In the United States of America *Elwood, Illinois *Elwood, Indiana *Elwood, Kansas * Elwood, Missouri *Elwood, Nebraska * Elwood-Magnolia, New Jersey *Elwood, N ...

. In 2000, Dunn ran for the Democratic nomination for a judgeship on the Illinois Appellate Court. He lost the primary to Mary McDade, who would go on to win the general election. He stepped down from the bench in 2005. In 2015, he was appointed by Governor

Bruce Rauner Bruce Vincent Rauner (; born February 18, 1956) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 42nd governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019. Prior to his election, he was the chairman of R8 Capital Partners and chai ...

to the Illinois Gaming Board.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Thomas A. 1942 births Living people People from Joliet, Illinois St. Ambrose University alumni DePaul University College of Law alumni Democratic Party Illinois state senators Illinois state court judges Illinois lawyers United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War United States Marines