Ellis B. Levin (born April 10, 1945) is a politician who served two nonconsecutive tenures (1977-1979 and 1981-1995) as a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives.
Biography
Ellis was born April 10, 1945. He graduated from the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
and
Northwestern University School of Law
Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law s ...
. He served as a research assistant to
Joseph Tydings
Joseph Davies Tydings (né Cheesborough; May 4, 1928 – October 8, 2018) was an American lawyer and politician. He was most notable for his service as a Democratic member of the United States Senate representing Maryland from 1965 to 1971.
Bo ...
, legislative policy officer for the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Ur ...
and a legislative assistant to
Leonard Farbstein
Leonard Farbstein (October 12, 1902 – November 9, 1993) was an American lawyer and politician who served seven terms as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1957 to 1971.
Early life and career
Farbstein was born on October 12, 1902, in N ...
. In 1973, he moved to Edgewater and began to work for the
Cook County State's Attorney
The Cook County State's Attorney functions as the state of Illinois's district attorney for Cook County, Illinois, and heads the second-largest prosecutor's office in the United States. The office has over 700 attorneys and 1,100 employees. In ad ...
John Cullerton
John J. Cullerton (born October 28, 1948) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 6th district from his appointment in 1991 to 2020. He served as President of the Illinois Senate from ...
. In 1980, he ran again and succeeded Marovitz who successfully ran for the Illinois Senate. After 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 ...
eliminated multimember districts in favor of single member districts, Levin ran in and won the 5th district. He was handily reelected five times before losing the Democratic nomination to
Sara Feigenholtz
Sara Feigenholtz (born December 11, 1956) is a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate who has represented the 6th District since 2020.
During his legislative career, he was an active member of IVI-IPO serving as general counsel and chair for the Near North Side chapter. He was a National Executive Committee and National Board member for
Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is a liberal American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA views itself as supporting social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research, and supporting pro ...