Donald P. DeWitte is a Republican 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 ...

for the 33rd District. The 33rd district includes all or parts of Batavia, Crystal Lake,

East Dundee East Dundee is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States, with a small section in Cook County. The population was 3,152 at the 2020 census. History The village of East Dundee was incorporated in 1871, four years after West Dundee. A hist ...

Elgin Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario * Elgin, Manit ...

Gilberts The Gilbert Islands (;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this name applied o ...

, Lakewood,

Pingree Grove Pingree Grove ( ) is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 124 at the 2000 census. However, with rapid development in the following years, the 2010 census indicated 4,532 residents, and the 2020 census was 10,365. ...

, Sleepy Hollow, South Elgin, Wayne,

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, St. Charles,

West Dundee West Dundee is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,686 as of the 2020 US Census. It is considered a far northwest Chicago suburb. West Dundee lies across the Fox River from East Dundee and Carpentersville. ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, Huntley,

Carpentersville Carpentersville is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 37,983 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. History Julius Angelo Carpenter (August 19, 1827 – March 30, 1880) was the fou ...

, Lake in the Hills and

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

. Prior to his appointment to the Illinois State Senate, DeWitte served as Mayor of St. Charles from 2005 to 2013, and as a St. Charles alderman from 1993 to 2005. He also served as the Kane County representative to the Regional Transportation Authority Board from 2013 to 2018. DeWitte's currently serves on the following committees: Appropriations; Human Rights; Revenue (Minority Spokesperson); State Government; Transportation (Minority Spokesperson); Special Committee on Pensions.

Illinois Senate

In 2018, DeWitte was appointed to the Illinois State Senate to represent the 33rd District after incumbent Senator

Karen McConnaughay Karen McConnaughay (born March 1, 1957) is an Illinois politician from Kane County. A Republican, she was a member of the Illinois Senate from the 33rd district from 2013 until her resignation in 2018. The 33rd district includes all or parts o ...

resigned. He was sworn in in September 2018 and was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population ch ...

to the position in November 2018, narrowly defeating

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Nancy Zettler. In 2021, DeWitte became an assistant Republican leader.

Votes

Source:

Workers' rights

* Voted against raising the state

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

to $15 an hour * Voted against prohibiting

Right To Work Laws Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...

* Voted against HB 834, which required employees to be paid equally

Voting rights

* Voted against allowing people in

jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

who have not been convicted of a crime to vote * Voted in favor of SB-1970, which authorized student absences for voting * Voted against expanding

absentee voting Absentee or The Absentee may refer to: * Absentee (band), a British band * The Absentee, a novel by Maria Edgeworth, published in 1812 in ''Tales of Fashionable Life'' * ''The Absentee'' (1915 film), a 1915 American silent film directed by Christy ...

for the 2020 general election

Education

* Voted against SB-25, which would have made

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

mandatory for five year-olds in Illinois * Voted against SB 10, which increased the mandatory baseline salaries for public school teachers in the state * Voted against HB 2691, which authorized tuition assistance to students who are trans or undocumented * Voted against HB 2265, which requires civics education to be taught in grades 6, 7, and 8 * Voted against HB 246, which requires public schools to teach about prominent LGBTQ+ historical figures * Voted against HB 2170, which requires school curriculum to emphasize Black and minority group contributions * Voted against prohibiting school discrimination against certain hairstyles

Police and prison policy

* Voted against HB 1613, which requires police to keep records on

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the offender profiling, selective enforcement or selective prosecution based on race or ethnicity, rather than individual suspicion or evidence. This practice involves discrimination against minority pop ...

* Voted against allowing people in jail who have not been convicted of a crime to vote * Voted against HB 2040, which prohibits private prisons and jails in Illinois * Voted against abolishing Bail, cash bail

LGBTQ+ rights

* Voted against HB 246, which requires public schools to teach about prominent LGBTQ+ historical figures * Voted against HB 3534, which added a nonbinary gender marker option for state ID's

Cannabis

* Voted against HB 1438, which legalized Recreational drug use, recreational cannabis in Illinois

Racial justice

* Voted against requiring women and Black people to serve on corporate boards * Voted against HB 1613, which requires police to keep records on racial profiling * Voted against HB 2170, which requires school curriculum to emphasize Black and minority group contributions * Voted against HB 158, which aims to reduce Race and health, racial disparities in medical care * Voted against prohibiting school discrimination against certain hairstyles

Immigration

* Voted against SB 667, which would have prohibited cities and counties from entering into contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Climate and energy

* Voted against requiring all energy production to be from Renewable energy, renewable sources by 2050

Health care and abortion

* Voted against repealing the Parental Notice of Abortion Act * Voted against HB 158, which aims to reduce racial disparities in medical care

Committee assignments

In the 101st General Assembly, DeWitte served on the Senate Committees on Appropriations II; Education, Revenue, Local Government, Telecommunications and InfoTechnology; Transportation; Government Accountability and Pensions; and the Committee of the Whole. In the 102nd General Assembly, he serves on the Senate Committees on Appropriations; Behavioral and Mental Health; Commerce; Executive; Local Government; Pensions; Revenue; Transportation; and Administrative Rules.

Electoral history

Personal life

DeWitte attended Elgin Community College and the University of Illinois Springfield, University of Illinois at Springfield before beginning a four decades-long career in the building materials industry, serving in various positions with local and national manufacturers, primarily in kitchen design and sales. DeWitte and his wife Diane have two children and are members of St. Patrick Church in St. Charles.

References

External links

Senator Donald P. DeWitte (R) 33rd District
at the Illinois General Assembly **By session
100th101st
{{DEFAULTSORT:DeWitte, Don Republican Party Illinois state senators Living people People from St. Charles, Illinois Year of birth missing (living people) University of Illinois at Springfield alumni 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly