Carole Pankau is a former Republican

Illinois State Senator 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 th ...

, representing the 23rd district from 2005 to 2013. Pankau previously served as

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

from 1993 to 2005.

Early life

Pankau earned a B.S. in accounting from the

University of Illinois 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 served as a member of the DuPage County Board from 1984 to 1992 and prior to that served on the school board for Keeneyville School District 20. She was active as a precinct committeeman in the Republican organization in Bloomingdale Township. In the 1992 general election, Pankau was elected to represent the 45th district.

Illinois General Assembly

In the 1992 general election, Pankau was elected to represent the 45th district. During her tenure, she served on the Committees on Public Health (minority spokesperson); Appropriations III; Environment and Energy; Labor; Revenue. Pankau was a Republican candidate for

DuPage County DuPage County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, and one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 932,877, making it Illinois' second-most populous county. Its county seat ...

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

in 2010 but lost to Republican Daniel Cronin. Pankau lost Senate re-election in 2012 to

Tom Cullerton Tom Cullerton is an American politician. Cullerton was a member of the Illinois Senate representing the 23rd district from 2013 until resigning in 2022. Shortly after, he pleaded guilty to 1 count of embezzlement. During his tenure, the 23rd distr ...

Community involvement

*Bloomingdale Township Volunteer Council, Past President *DuPage County Health Board member for 4 years *DuPage Housing Authority member for 4 years *“In Focus” Cable TV Program, current hostess since 1992 *During the

2008 Republican Party presidential primaries From January 3 to June 3, 2008, voters of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party chose their nominee for President of the United States, president in the 2008 United States presidential election. United States Senate, Senator J ...

, Pankau worked on behalf of the

presidential campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...

of former U.S. Senator

Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a Unite ...

serving as a congressional district chair for

Illinois's 6th congressional district Illinois's 6th congressional district covers parts of Cook and DuPage counties. It has been represented by Democrat Sean Casten since 2019. Composition By county Cities and CDPs with 10,000 or more people * Chicago – 2,665,039 * Or ...

Personal

Pankau was born August 13, 1947, in

Valparaiso, Indiana Valparaiso ( ), colloquially Valpo, is a city in and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,151 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. History The site of present-day Valparaiso ...

. She has been married to Anthony John Pankau Jr. since 1966. They have four grown children: John, Jason, Shay and Aaron. She has been a resident of DuPage County for more than 30 years. Pankau was a former owner-manager of an auto-body/towing business for 17 years.

References

External links

Illinois General Assembly - Carole Pankau (R) 23rd District
''official IL Senate website''
BillsCommitteesState Senator Carole Pankau
''official campaign website''
Project Vote Smart - Senator Carole A. Pankau (IL)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Carole Pankau
200620042002200019981996
campaign contributions
Open Secrets - Carole Pankau
campaign contributions for her 2006 federal campaign
Illinois State Senate Republicans - Carole Pankau
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pankau, Carole Republican Party Illinois state senators Living people University of Illinois alumni Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Women state legislators in Illinois 1947 births People from Porter County, Indiana 21st-century American women politicians County board members in Illinois School board members in Illinois 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly