Kimberly Neely du Buclet is a Democratic 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 ...

, formerly serving on the board of commissioners for the

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), originally known as the Sanitary District of Chicago, is a special-purpose district chartered to operate in Cook County, Illinois, since 1889. Although its name may imply oth ...

(MWRD).

Early life and education

du Buclet attended high school at

University of Chicago Laboratory Schools The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (also known as Lab, Lab Schools, or U-High, abbreviated UCLS) is a private, co-educational, day pre-school and K-12 school affiliated with the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. Almost half ...

. She also received a Bachelor of Science in marketing from the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

in marketing from the

University of Chicago Booth School of Business The University of Chicago Booth School of Business (branded as Chicago Booth) is the graduate business school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1898, Chicago Booth is the second-oldest ...

First tenure in the Illinois House of Representatives (2011–2013)

du Buclet represented the 26th District in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013. She was appointed to her seat in May 2011 after former incumbent William D. Burns stepped down to become Chicago's 4th Ward alderman. She did not run for a full term in the 2012 election. du Buclet worked on sentencing reform passed in 2012 in the State Senate as Senate Bill 3349. The bill reduced the minimum time served before

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

for certain

felonies A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that ...

. During her term, du Buclet's served on several legislative committees, including: Health Care Availability Access, Small Business Empowerment & Workforce, Higher Education, Appropriations-Human Services, Health & Healthcare Disparities, and Tourism & Conventions.

MWRD Board of Commissioners (2018–2023)

In 2018, du Buclet won a special election to finish the remaining two years of an unexpired term on the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. The seat had been vacated by Cynthia Santos, and had been held by interim appointee David Walsh prior to Neely's assumption of office. In 2020, du Buclet won the Democratic primary on March 17, 2020 for re-election to a full term on the board in an election to fill the three seats on the board with expiring terms. She was re-elected, winning the most votes of any candidate in the general election. On January 5, 2023, she was elected vice-president of the board of commissioners. Her tenure ended after she was appointed on May 13, 2023 to again serve in the Illinois House of Representatives. In 2023, while serving on the board Du Buclet was appointed by the

Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...

(EPA) to its 24-member Local Government Advisory Committee.

Second tenure in the Illinois House of Representatives (2023–present)

On May 13, 2023, du Buclet was appointed the 5th district seat of the Illinois House of Representatives, vacated when

Lamont Robinson Lamont J. Robinson Jr. (born February 21, 1982) is an American insurance agent, educator, and politician who is the alderman for the 4th ward in the Chicago City Council, having won the 2023 election for the office. The 4th ward includes parts of ...

became a Chicago alderman. Per Illinois law, her appointment was decided by Democratic committeepeople representing areas overlapping the district, since Robinson had been elected to the seat as a Democrat. The 5th district mainly represents portions of South Side neighborhoods (including Woodlawn, Washington Park, South Shore, and Englewood), and parts of The Loop, South Loop and River North. In her appointed term, du Buclet introduced bills to hold corporations accountable for emissions, and a bill to create a state holiday memorializing

Emmett Till Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955) was an African American youth, who was 14 years old when he was abducted and Lynching in the United States, lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of offending a white woman, ...

. du Buclet successfully sought re-election to a full term in 2024. In advance of the Democratic primary, she was endorsed by the

Chicago Teachers Union The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is a labor union that represents teachers, paraprofessionals, and clinicians in the Chicago public school system. The union has advocated for improved pay, benefits, and job security for its members, and it has ...

and the Cook County College Teachers Union (both being local chapters of the

American Federation of Teachers The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the second largest teacher's labor union in America (the largest being the National Education Association). The union was founded in Chicago. John Dewey and Margaret Haley were founders. About 60 pe ...

), as well as the endorsement of AFSCME Council 31. She won the primary, defeating her sole opponent 75.7% to 24.3%. She faced a Republican challenger in the general election, for which she was endorsed in the general election by the

editorial board The editorial board is a group of editors, writers, and other people who are charged with implementing a publication's approach to editorials and other opinion pieces. The editorials published normally represent the views or goals of the publicat ...

of the ''

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'', Planned Parenthood Illinois Action,

Equality Illinois Equality Illinois (EI) was founded in 1991 to work towards building a better Illinois by advancing equal treatment and social justice through education, advocacy, and protection of the rights of the LGBTQ community. Structure The Equality Illino ...

and

Giffords Giffords (stylized "GIFFORDS") is an American advocacy and research organization focused on preventing gun violence. The organization draws its name from one of its co-founders, Gabby Giffords, a former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Rep ...

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buclet, Kimberly du 21st-century American women politicians Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Gies College of Business alumni Living people Members of the Board of Commissioners for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Politicians from Chicago University of Chicago Booth School of Business alumni University of Chicago Laboratory Schools alumni Women state legislators in Illinois Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly