David B. Reis (born September 15, 1964) was a Republican member of 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 ...

, representing the 108th district from 2005 to 2012 and the 109th District from 2013 to 2019.

Early life

David B. Reis was born September 15, 1964. Reis has an associate degree in agricultural sciences from

Lake Land College Lake Land College is a public community college in Mattoon, Illinois. It was founded in 1966. As of the Fall 2023 semester Lake Land serves 3,699 students, mainly from the east-central Illinois region. The campus has seven major buildings plus ...

and a Bachelor of Science in agriculture from the University of Illinois College of Agriculture. After working in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

as an executive recruiter, he returned to the farm after his father's death in 1990. He served on the board of directors of the Illinois Pork Producers Association from 1997 to 2004. Reis grew up and continues to live on his family's fifth-generation family farm near Ste. Marie, Illinois.

Political career

In the 2002 general election, Reis ran a strong campaign against Democratic incumbent Charles A. Hartke. In the 2004 general election, Reis was the Republican candidate against Hartke's successor, William J. Grunloh. Reis won 62%-38%. 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 ...

, Reis 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 ...

as a member of the Illinois statewide steering committee and as a congressional district chair for

Illinois's 19th congressional district The 19th congressional district of Illinois was a congressional district in Illinois. It was eliminated as a result of the 2010 US census, as population growth in Illinois was slower compared to other states. The district became obsolete for 2 ...

. Reis was one of only five Illinois representatives to vote against the

Illinois Right to Vote Amendment Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

on its passage in the Illinois House of Representatives. The bill subsequently was passed unanimously in 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 ...

, and was approved as a constitutional amendment by the voters of Illinois. Reis ran for re-election in 2018, but was defeated by

Darren Bailey Darren Bailey (born March 17, 1966) is an American politician who was a Republican member of the Illinois Senate for the 55th District and previously a member of the Illinois House of Representatives for the 109th District in Southern Illinois. ...

in the Republican primary. Many attributed his defeat because of his vote in favor of overriding Governor

Bruce Rauner Bruce Vincent Rauner (; born February 18, 1956) is an American businessman, venture capitalist, and politician who served as the 42nd governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he had a decades-long career in inves ...

's veto of a tax increase that had passed 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 ...

References

External links

Representative David Reis (R) 108th District
at the Illinois General Assembly **By session
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reis, David Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives 1964 births Living people People from Olney, Illinois 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly