Judy Koehler (born September 20, 1941) is an American politician who served as 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 ...

and

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Justice.

Illinois House of Representatives

Koehler was first elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1980, defeating incumbent Representative Donald Anderson in the Republican primary. Koehler received the most votes in the primary, in which the two candidates receiving the most votes were nominated."Upsets scored on both sides in state Legislature bids", ''

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'' October 17, 1980. p. A5. Koehler also received the most votes in the general election, in which the three candidates receiving the most votes were elected."State Representative", ''

'' November 6, 1980. p. A2. Koehler first represented the 45th district, but after the

Cutback Amendment The Cutback Amendment (formally named the "Size of State House of Representatives Amendment"; and also known as both "Amendment 1" and the "Legislative Article") is an amendment to the Illinois Constitution that abolished multi-member districts i ...

was redistricted into the 89th district with fellow incumbent Republican Representative John "Jay" Ackerman. The 89th district included all or parts of

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, McLean, Stark, Tazewell, and Woodford counties in north-central Illinois. Koehler defeated Ackerman by a wide margin."Koehler wins 89th", ''

'', March 17, 1982. p. A2. In the general election, Koehler defeated

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Mike McNally by more than a 3 to 1 margin."Election 82", ''

'', November 3, 1982. p. A4. Koehler was unopposed in the 1984 general election."Election 84", ''

'', November 8, 1984. p. A4. Koehler served as Representative for the 89th district until 1987."Democratic Senate Will Temper Reagan, Dixon Predicts", ''

'', November 7, 1986. p. A2. Koehler's district was based in north-central Illinois.Concluding House Choices
, ''

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'', March 06, 1986. Retrieved October 30, 2016. Koehler opposed the $8,000 a year pay raise that the legislature voted to give itself in a lame-duck session in 1978, and returned $8,000 of her pay to the state treasury every year she was in office, returning a total of $48,000 over her 6 years in office.

1986 United States Senate election

In 1986, Koehler ran for the

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

. Koehler defeated

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executive George Ranneywik in the Republican primary, but was unable to oust incumbent Alan Dixon in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

. She was succeeded in the Illinois House of Representatives by John "Jay" Ackerman, who she had defeated in the 1982 Republican primary for the seat.

Later career

In 1992, a graduate of

Loyola University Chicago School of Law Loyola University Chicago School of Law is the law school of Loyola University Chicago, a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago. Established in 1908, Loyola University Chicago School of Law offers de ...

, Koehler was admitted to the Illinois State Bar. Koehler served as an assistant

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. In 1994, Koehler ran for

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

Illinois's 18th congressional district The 18th congressional district of Illinois covered central and western Illinois, including all of Jacksonville, Illinois, Jacksonville and Quincy, Illinois, Quincy and parts of Bloomington, Illinois, Bloomington, Peoria, Illinois, Peoria, and ...

to replace the retiring Republican

Robert H. Michel Robert Henry Michel (; March 2, 1923 – February 17, 2017) was an American Republican Party politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives for 38 years. He represented central Illinois' 18th congressional distric ...

. Koehler lost in the primary to Michel's Chief of Staff and endorsed successor

Ray LaHood Raymond H. LaHood ( ; born December 6, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 16th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the ...

. Following her run for Congress, Koehler became senior legislative counsel of

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. In May 1998, Judy Koehler was appointed to the

Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the judiciary of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the fiv ...

Justice James Heiple, to fill the vacancy of Michael McCuskey, who had become a federal judge.Former lawmaker now on the bench
, ''Illinois Issues'', July/August 1998. Retrieved October 31, 2016. She narrowly defeated appellate attorney Karen Kendall of Princeville and law professor Michael Closen of Lockport in the Republican primary garnering 34.17% of the vote to Kendall's 33.23% and Closen's 32.60%. In that year's general election, she lost to Democratic candidate Mary McDade.

Electoral history

* Illinois House of Representatives District 45 Republican primary, 1980 ** Judy Koehler, 40,481, 52% ** John "Jay" Ackerman, 22,654, 29% ** Donald Anderson, 14,266, 18% * Illinois House of Representatives District 45 election, 1980 ** Judy Koehler (R), 92,386, 36% ** John "Jay" Ackerman (R), 77,403, 30% ** Joe Ozella, Jr. (D), 51,823, 20% ** Bernice Jackson (D), 36,946, 14% * Illinois House of Representatives District 89 Republican primary, 1982 ** Judy Koehler, 9,561, 72% ** John "Jay" Ackerman, 3,642, 28% * Illinois House of Representatives District 89 election, 1982 ** Judy Koehler (R), 25,393, 76% ** Mike McNally (D), 8,105, 24% * Illinois House of Representatives District 89 election, 1984 ** Judy Koehler (R), 127,475, 100% * Republican primary for United States Senate in Illinois, 1986 ** Judy Koehler, 266,214, 55% ** George Ranney, 217,720, 45% * United States Senate election in Illinois, 1986 ** Alan Dixon (D), 2,033,783, 65% ** Judy Koehler (R), 1,053,734, 34% * Illinois's 18th congressional district Republican primary, 1994Federal Elections 94

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, March 1995. p. 64. Retrieved October 30, 2016. **

, 33,956, 50% ** Judy Koehler, 26,809, 40% ** Dennis Lee Higgins, 6,959, 10% * 3rd District Appellate Court Republican primary, 2000 ** Judy Koehler, 34,945, 34% ** Karen L. Kendall, 33,981, 33% ** Michael L. Closen, 33,981, 33% * 3rd District Appellate Court election, 2000 ** Mary McDade (D), 318,151, 51% ** Judy Koehler (R), 301,751, 49%

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koehler, Judy 1941 births Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court Living people Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Women state legislators in Illinois 21st-century American women 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century Illinois state court judges 20th-century American women judges Candidates in the 1986 United States elections Candidates in the 1994 United States elections People from Adams County, Illinois Western Illinois University alumni Loyola University Chicago School of Law alumni 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly