Lane Allen Evans (August 4, 1951 – November 5, 2014) was an American attorney and politician who served as a Democratic member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from 1983 until 2007, representing the 17th District of

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 ...

. Evans announced that he would not seek reelection in November 2006 and retired at the end of the

109th Congress The 109th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 2005 to January 3, 2007, dur ...

, due to the increasingly debilitating effects of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

Background

Evans was born in 1951 in

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Rock Island Arsenal, Arsenal Island. The popul ...

, and attended Alleman High School and Augustana College there. He served in 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 ...

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 ...

, stationed in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. After leaving the Marines in 1971, Evans enrolled at Augustana College in Rock Island, graduating in 1974. He earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

in 1977 and he started his legal career as an attorney with the Quad Cities Legal Clinic id America Law Offices, Ltd.in Moline. In 1982, Evans ran for and won the Democratic nomination for

Illinois's 17th congressional district The 17th congressional district of Illinois is represented by Democrat Cheri Bustos. It includes most of the northwestern portion of the state, with most of its population living on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities, as well as parts of Peor ...

, which included most of Illinois' share of the

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are t ...

area. It had been renumbered from the 19th District since Illinois lost two districts after the 1980

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

. The district had been in

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

hands for all but two years since 1939. However, the brand of Republicanism that prevailed in the district had traditionally been a moderate one. Evans got a significant boost when 16-year incumbent

Tom Railsback Thomas Fisher Railsback (January 22, 1932 – January 20, 2020) was an American politician and lawyer who served eight terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1967 to 1983 for . A member of the Republican Party (United States), R ...

was defeated for renomination by the more conservative Republican,

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

Kenneth McMillan. Taking advantage of hardships from that year's

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

, Evans won by around 5 percentage points. Evans earned the highest opposition (90%) to President Reagan's agenda of any congress member during his first congressional session and then handily defeated McMillan in a 1984 rematch. Despite

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

's gigantic 1984 landslide victory that year, Evans pulled in 57% to Reagan's 54% -besting the president by more than 5,000 votes in the 17th Congressional District. This was one of the few congressional districts where Reagan's percentage in the two-way was lower than the three-way in 1980. Evans faced opposition in his next four campaigns, and beat his republican 1990 opponent by more than 50,000 votes with 67% of the vote. In 1994, Republicans retook the House, yet Evans held his seat and won by nine points over a little-known Republican, Jim Anderson, who spent almost no money. This emboldened the Republicans for 1996, when Evans faced Mark Baker, an anchor at

WGEM-TV WGEM-TV (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Quincy, Illinois, United States, serving the Quincy, Illinois–Hannibal, Missouri–Keokuk, Iowa market as an affiliate of NBC, The CW Plus, and Fox. Owned by Gray Television, it is a ...

in Quincy (the third-largest city in the district). Presidential candidate

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

carried the district by a healthy 30,000 votes, and Evans defeated Baker by 11,000 votes. A 1998 rematch was closer, with Evans only winning by 6,000 votes. A third run by Baker in 2000 saw Evans win by 10 points. Redistricting after the 2000 census made Evans safer. Decatur and part of

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

were added while some more rural areas were taken out. The redistricting process, guided by House Speaker and 14th District Congressman

Dennis Hastert John Dennis Hastert (; born January 2, 1942) is an American former politician and convicted felon who represented from 1987 to 2007 and served as the 51st speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. The longest-se ...

and 3rd District Congressman

Bill Lipinski William Oliver Lipinski (born December 22, 1937) is an American politician and lobbyist who was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2005, representing a district in Chicago. Life and career Pre-congr ...

, solidified the holdings of many Illinois incumbents. Evans was re-elected in 2002 and 2004. Evans is credited with passage of the Agent Orange Act of 1991 which he sponsored. In 1995 he was awarded the Silver Helmet award from American Veterans Group (

AMVETS American Veterans (AMVETS) is a non-partisan, volunteer-led organization formed by World War II veterans of the United States military. It advocates for its members as well as for causes that its members deem helpful to the nation at large. The g ...

).Hansen, Devin (2019). Guts: The Lane Evans Story. Strong Arm Press. p. 130. . Evans was also instrumental in the election of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

during the 2004 United States Senate election in Illinois. Beginning in 1995, Evans battled

. While his previous opponents did not make an issue of it, his 2004 opponent, Andrea Zinga (a former anchorwoman at

KWQC-TV KWQC-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Davenport, Iowa, United States, serving the Quad Cities area as an affiliate of NBC. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on Brady Street in downtown Davenport, and its t ...

and

WQAD-TV WQAD-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Moline, Illinois, United States, serving the Quad Cities area as an affiliate of ABC and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Park 16th Street in Moline, and i ...

in the Quad Cities) claimed he was not able to fully represent the members of his district due to his health concerns. However, this tactic backfired, and Evans won handily. During his tenure, Evans was one of the most

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

members of the House, and probably Illinois' most liberal congressman from outside

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. A founding member of the

Congressional Progressive Caucus The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the most Left-wing politics, left-leaning faction of the ...

, and the House Populist Caucus he had a near-perfect lifetime rating from

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 prog ...

, while the

American Conservative Union The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Political Action Conference. Founded on ...

gave him its lowest rating of any congressman outside Chicago. Evans was one of 31 Democrats in the House of Representatives to vote to reject Ohio's 20 electoral votes in the 2004 Presidential Election, despite Republican President George Bush winning the state by 118,457 votes. In 2019 his biography "Guts: The Lane Evans Story" was published by Strong Arm Press, authored by Devin Hansen.

FEC actions

On June 27, 2005, Evans' campaign committee agreed to pay $185,000 to settle an investigation by the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...

. The inquiry stemmed from allegations of illegal coordination between the 17th District Victory Fund, the Rock Island Democratic Central Committee and the congressman's campaign during the 1998 and 2000 election cycles. According to the FEC press release: The Rock Island Democratic Central Committee, for its part, agreed to a

civil penalty A civil penalty or civil fine is a financial penalty imposed by a government agency as restitution for wrongdoing. The wrongdoing is typically defined by a codification of legislation, regulations, and decrees. The civil fine is not considered ...

of $30,000.

Retirement and death

Evans won the Democratic primary in 2006 and was poised for a rematch against Zinga. On March 28, 2006, however, Evans announced that he would not stand for a 13th term in November 2006. He made a brief return to Washington in June 2006. His withdrawal from the general election left local Democrats with the task of finding a replacement candidate. Their choice was Congressman Evans' district director,

Phil Hare Philip Gary Hare (born February 21, 1949) is an American politician who was United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative for , serving from 2007 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. ...

, who was elected. On November 5, 2014, Evans died at the age of 63 in a nursing home in

East Moline, Illinois East Moline is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,374 at the 2020 census. East Moline is part of the Quad Cities, along with the cities of Rock Island, Illinois, Rock Island, Moline, Illinois, Moline, and ...

, from complications brought on by

Electoral history

*Election of November 2, 1982 **D. Lane Evans — 94,483 53% **R. Kenneth McMillan — 84,347 47% *Election of November 6, 1984 **D. Lane Evans — 128,273 57% **R. Kenneth McMillan — 98,069 43% *Election of November 4, 1986 **D. Lane Evans — 85,442 56% **R. Sam McHard — 68,101 44% *Election of November 8, 1988 **D. Lane Evans — 132,130 65% **R. William E. Stewart — 71,560 35% *Election of November 6, 1990 **D. Lane Evans — 102,062 67% **R. Dan Lee — 51,380 33% *Election of November 3, 1992 **D. Lane Evans — 156,233 60% **R. Kenneth Schloemer — 103,719 40% *Election of November 8, 1994 **D. Lane Evans — 95,312 55% **R. Jim Anderson — 79,471 45% *Election of November 5, 1996 **D. Lane Evans — 120,008 52% **R. Mark W. Baker — 109,240 47% **L. William J. Herrman — 1,925 1% *Election of November 3, 1998 **D. Lane Evans — 100,128 52% **R. Mark W. Baker — 94,072 48% *Election of November 7, 2000 **D. Lane Evans — 132,494 55% **R. Mark W. Baker — 108,853 45% *Election of November 5, 2002 **D. Lane Evans — 127,093 62% **R. Peter Calderone — 76,519 38% *Election of November 2, 2004 **D. Lane Evans — 172,320 61% **R. Andrea Zinga — 111,680 39%

References

External links