Toi Hutchinson (born May 20, 1973) is an American politician who served as a member of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...

from 2009 to 2019, representing the 40th District. The 40th district includes all or parts of Bradley,

Bourbonnais The Bourbonnais (; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Borbonés'') was a Provinces of France, historic province in the centre of France that corresponds to the modern ''département in France, département'' of Allier, along with part of the ''dépar ...

, Chicago Heights,

Flossmoor Flossmoor () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,704 at the 2020 census. Flossmoor is approximately south of the Chicago Loop. It is closely tied to neighboring Homewood, sharing a high school and park dis ...

, Homewood, Hopkins Park, Kankakee,

Olympia Fields Olympia Fields is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,718 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a southern suburb of Chicago. The municipality grew up around the prestigious Olympia Fields Coun ...

, Peotone and University Park. Prior to her service in the Illinois Senate, Hutchinson was

City Clerk A clerk (pronounced "clark" /klɑːk/ in British and Australian English) is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in ma ...

for the Village of

Olympia Fields, Illinois Olympia Fields is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,718 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a southern suburb of Chicago. The municipality grew up around the prestigious Olympia Fields Coun ...

Early life and education

At nine years old, Hutchinson moved to

Country Club Hills, Illinois Country Club Hills is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb south of Chicago. The population was 16,775 at the 2020 census. History 10,000 years ago, during a glacial period, there was a complex of moraines in this are ...

, where she was raised by her mother and maternal grandparents. She attended Infant Jesus of Prague elementary school in

, and Rich Central High School in Olympia Fields. At the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, she earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree, majoring in English and minoring in psychology. Hutchinson returned to her old high school as an English teacher. She graduated from Northern Illinois University's College of Law in 2014.

Career

Hutchinson has worked on behalf of the State Alliance of

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

s and for the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce's Government Affairs Council. In 2004, she became an Executive Management Fellow in the Women and Leadership program created by Harva Kennedy School. That same year, Hutchinson ran unsuccessfully for Supervisor of Bloom Township. The day after that election, she accepted a position on the staff of Debbie Halvorson. Hutchinson eventually became Halvorson's Chief of Staff. Hutchinson was appointed in January 2009 to complete the rest of Debbie Halvorson's term following Halvorson's 2008 election to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. During her tenure, Hutchinson served on the Agriculture and Conservation, Labor, Local Government, Veteran Affairs, and Transportation committee. Hutchinson left the

in 2019, and Patrick Joyce was appointed by local party leaders in the 40th district to succeed her. Hutchinson was appointed president and CEO of the

Marijuana Policy Project The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is the largest organization working solely on marijuana policy reform in the United States in terms of its budget, number of members, and staff. Its stated aims are to: (1) increase public support for non-pu ...

in December 2021.

2013 congressional special election

After Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned from the

after being investigated for the misuse campaign funds, Hutchinson announced her intent to run in the 2013 special election succeed him. She was endorsed by Cook County Board President

Toni Preckwinkle Toni Lynn Preckwinkle (née Reed; born March 17, 1947) is an American politician and the incumbent County Board president in Cook County, Illinois, United States. She was elected to her first term as president of the Cook County Board of Commis ...

, and Illinois State Representatives Anthony DeLuca, Lisa Dugan, Al Riley, and Thaddeus Jones. She was also endorsed by the mayors of

and

Kankakee, Illinois Kankakee ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. Located on the Kankakee River, as of 2020, the city's population was 24,052. Kankakee is a principal city of the Kankakee-Bourbonnais-Bradley, IL MSA, Kan ...

. In the Democratic primary, Hutchinson came in fifth place out of 16 candidates.

Robin Kelly Robin Lynne Kelly (born April 30, 1956) is an American politician from Illinois who has served as the U.S. representative from since 2013. A Democrat, Kelly served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007. She then served as c ...

was eventually elected.

Cannabis czar

On September 26, 2019, it was announced that Governor

J. B. Pritzker Jay Robert Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 43rd governor of Illinois. A member of the wealthy Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain, Pritzker has started several vent ...

appointed Hutchinson Illinois Cannabis Regulation Oversight Officer, a role created by the Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, to oversee the roll out of the statewide legalization of recreational cannabis. Hutchinson will oversee relevant activities of multiple agencies including the

Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

, the Department of Public Health, Department of Revenue, Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. She will also have input over the policies of the

Illinois State Police The Illinois State Police (ISP) is the state police agency of the U.S. state of Illinois. The Illinois State Police is responsible for traffic safety on more than 300,000 miles of total roadway, including 2,185 miles of interstate highways and ...

Personal life

She is married to Paul Hutchinson, a Senior Systems Engineer. They reside in Olympia Fields with their three children.

References

External links

Biography, bills and committees
at the 98th Illinois General Assembly **By session
98th97th96th95thIllinois State Senator Toi Hutchinson
legislative website
Senator Toi W. Hutchinson
at Illinois Senate Democrats *
Collected news and commentary
at the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchinson, Toi Illinois state senators Living people African-American state legislators in Illinois 21st-century African-American women politicians Women state legislators in Illinois University of Illinois alumni Northern Illinois University alumni 1973 births 21st-century American women politicians People from Olympia Fields, Illinois 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly