Carl E. Hawkinson (born October 7, 1947) is an American attorney and former Republican 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 ...

, serving in 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 constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

from 1983 to 1987 and 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 1987 to 2003.

Early life and career

Born in

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria, Illinois, Peoria. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal cit ...

, Hawkinson received his bachelor's degree from North Park University and his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. He was elected Knox County State's Attorney in 1976, succeeding fellow Republican Donald C. Woolsey.

Illinois General Assembly

In 1982, after the Cutback Amendment mandated the creation of

single-member district A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as Australia and India ...

s, Hawkinson ran for the 94th district. The 94th district included Warren County and portions of Knox and Peoria counties. Hawkinson defeated incumbent Democratic legislator Samuel M. McGrew. On January 31, 1986, David R. Leitch was appointed to the

to succeed the late Prescott E. Bloom. As Bloom was the only candidate to file for the 1986 Republican primary, Leitch and Hawkinson both ran in the primary as write-in candidates. Hawkinson defeated Leitch in the Republican primary by a large margin. In the general election, Hawkinson faced Democratic candidate and former state legislator John Cassidy of Peoria. Despite the hope of Democrats to capitalize on cross pressure of party affiliation and a hometown state senator to win the ''Peoria seat'', Hawkinson won the general election. Hawkinson served as Illinois State Senator representing the 47th District from 1987 to 2003.'Illinois Blue Book 2001-2002,' Biographical Sketch of Carl Hawkinson, pg. 118 In the Illinois House, Hawkinson was succeeded by fellow Republican David Hultgren after Hultgren defeated Democratic candidate Samuel M. McGrew's comeback bid. In the 1991 Republican-controlled decennial redistricting, the 47th district was redrawn to include all or parts of

Bureau Bureau ( ) may refer to: Agencies and organizations *Government agency *Public administration * News bureau, an office for gathering or distributing news, generally for a given geographical location * Bureau (European Parliament), the administra ...

, Henry, Knox, Peoria, Stark, and Warren counties. In the 2001 decennial redistricting Haskinson's district was divided into the 37th and 47th. In the 37th, Republican Dale Risinger defeated Paul Mangieri, the State's Attorney for Knox County while in the "new" 47th Democratic candidate John M. Sullivan defeated Republican incumbent Laura Kent Donahue.

Runs for higher office

In 2000 he made an unsuccessful run for the Illinois State Supreme Court, winning the Republican party primary but losing in the general election to Thomas Kilbride. In 2002 Carl Hawkinson ran for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois as the

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a pre ...

Illinois Attorney General The Illinois attorney general is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, the attorney general ...

Jim Ryan. Both men won in the Republican primary where Hawkinson received 47% of the vote defeating State Representative William O'Connor, Jack McInerney, and Charles Owens, but lost to

Rod Blagojevich Rod R. Blagojevich ( ; born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nickname "Blago", is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked ...

and Pat Quinn in the general election. Carl Hawkinson served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Public Safety for the State of Illinois from 2003 to 2005. While holding this position he was the top Republican in the Blagojevich administration.https://www.nprillinois.org/statehouse/2003-02-01/hawkinson-named-to-blagojevich-team

Electoral history

* 2002 Race for Governor / Lieutenant Governor **

/ Pat Quinn (D), 52% ** Jim Ryan / Carl Hawkinson (R), 45% * 2000 Race for Illinois Supreme Court; 3rd District ** Tom Kilbride (D), 52% ** Carl Hawkinson (R), 48%

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkinson, Carl 1947 births American prosecutors Illinois lawyers Republican Party Illinois state senators Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives North Park University alumni People from Galesburg, Illinois Harvard Law School alumni Living people 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly