Lane Allen Evans (August 4, 1951 – November 5, 2014) was an American attorney and politician who served as a Democratic member of the

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

from 1983 until 2007, representing the 17th District of

Illinois 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 ...

. Evans announced that he would not seek reelection in November 2006 and retired at the end of the

109th Congress The 109th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 2005, to January 3, 2007, du ...

, due to the increasingly debilitating effects of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

Background

Evans was born in 1951 in

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the confluence of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock a ...

, and attended Alleman High School and Augustana College there. He served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, stationed in

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

. After leaving the Marines in 1971, Evans enrolled at Augustana College in Rock Island, graduating in 1974. He earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

in 1977 and he started his legal career as an attorney with the Quad Cities Legal Clinic id America Law Offices, Ltd.in Moline. In 1982, Evans ran for and won the Democratic nomination for Illinois's 17th congressional district, which included most of Illinois' share of the

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of five cities (originally Tri-Cities, later four, see #History, History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport, Iowa, Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, Bettendorf (the fifth to be included) in southeaster ...

area. It had been renumbered from the 19th District since Illinois lost two districts after the 1980

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

. The district had been in Republican hands for all but two years since 1939. However, the brand of Republicanism that prevailed in the district had traditionally been a moderate one. Evans got a significant boost when 16-year incumbent Tom Railsback was defeated for renomination by the more conservative Republican,

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Kenneth McMillan. Taking advantage of hardships from that year's

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction that occurs when there is a period of broad decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be tr ...

, Evans won by around 5 percentage points. Evans earned the highest opposition (90%) to President Reagan's agenda of any congress member during his first congressional session and then handily defeated McMillan in a 1984 rematch. Despite

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

's gigantic 1984 landslide victory that year, Evans pulled in 57% to Reagan's 54% -besting the president by more than 5,000 votes in the 17th Congressional District. This was one of the few congressional districts where Reagan's percentage in the two-way was lower than the three-way in 1980. Evans faced opposition in his next four campaigns, and beat his republican 1990 opponent by more than 50,000 votes with 67% of the vote. In 1994, Republicans retook the House, yet Evans held his seat and won by nine points over a little-known Republican, Jim Anderson, who spent almost no money. This emboldened the Republicans for 1996, when Evans faced Mark Baker, an anchor at WGEM-TV in Quincy (the third-largest city in the district). Presidential candidate

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

carried the district by a healthy 30,000 votes, and Evans defeated Baker by 11,000 votes. A 1998 rematch was closer, with Evans only winning by 6,000 votes. A third run by Baker in 2000 saw Evans win by 10 points. Redistricting after the 2000 census made Evans safer. Decatur and part of Springfield were added while some more rural areas were taken out. The redistricting process, guided by House Speaker and 14th District Congressman

Dennis Hastert John Dennis Hastert ( ; born January 2, 1942) is an American former politician, teacher, and wrestling coach who represented from 1987 to 2007 and served as the 51st speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. Hast ...

and 3rd District Congressman

Bill Lipinski William Oliver Lipinski (born December 22, 1937) is an American politician and lobbyist who was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2005, representing a district in Chicago. Life and career Pre-congr ...

, solidified the holdings of many Illinois incumbents. Evans was re-elected in 2002 and 2004. Evans is credited with passage of the Agent Orange Act of 1991 which he sponsored. In 1995 he was awarded the Silver Helmet award from American Veterans Group (

AMVETS American Veterans (AMVETS) is a non-partisan, volunteer-led organization formed by World War II veterans of the United States military. It advocates for its members as well as for causes that its members deem helpful to the nation at large. The g ...

).Hansen, Devin (2019). Guts: The Lane Evans Story. Strong Arm Press. p. 130. . Evans was also instrumental in the election of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

during the 2004 United States Senate election in Illinois. Beginning in 1995, Evans battled

. While his previous opponents did not make an issue of it, his 2004 opponent, Andrea Zinga (a former anchorwoman at

KWQC-TV KWQC-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Davenport, Iowa, United States, serving the Quad Cities area as an affiliate of NBC. Owned by Gray Media, the station maintains studios on Brady Street in downtown Davenport, and its transm ...

and WQAD-TV in the Quad Cities) claimed he was not able to fully represent the members of his district due to his health concerns. However, this tactic backfired, and Evans won handily. During his tenure, Evans was one of the most liberal members of the House, and probably Illinois' most liberal congressman from outside

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 ...

. A founding member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and the House Populist Caucus he had a near-perfect lifetime rating from

Americans for Democratic Action Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is a liberal American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA views itself as supporting social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research, and supporting p ...

, while the

American Conservative Union The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for Conservatism in the United States, conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Poli ...

gave him its lowest rating of any congressman outside Chicago. Evans was one of 31 Democrats in the House of Representatives to vote to reject Ohio's 20 electoral votes in the 2004 Presidential Election, despite Republican President George Bush winning the state by 118,457 votes. In 2019 his biography "Guts: The Lane Evans Story" was published by Strong Arm Press, authored by Devin Hansen.

FEC actions

On June 27, 2005, Evans' campaign committee agreed to pay $185,000 to settle an investigation by the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...

. The inquiry stemmed from allegations of illegal coordination between the 17th District Victory Fund, the Rock Island Democratic Central Committee and the congressman's campaign during the 1998 and 2000 election cycles. According to the FEC press release: The Rock Island Democratic Central Committee, for its part, agreed to a

civil penalty A civil penalty or civil fine is a financial penalty imposed by a government agency as restitution for wrongdoing. The wrongdoing is typically defined by a codification of legislation, regulations, and decrees. The civil fine is not considered ...

of $30,000.

Retirement and death

Evans won the Democratic primary in 2006 and was poised for a rematch against Zinga. On March 28, 2006, however, Evans announced that he would not stand for a 13th term in November 2006. He made a brief return to Washington in June 2006. His withdrawal from the general election left local Democrats with the task of finding a replacement candidate. Their choice was Congressman Evans' district director, Phil Hare, who was elected. On November 5, 2014, Evans died at the age of 63 in a nursing home in

East Moline, Illinois East Moline is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,374 at the 2020 census. East Moline is one of the Quad Cities at the confluence of the Rock and Mississippi rivers, along with neighboring Moline and ...

, from complications brought on by

Electoral history

*Election of November 2, 1982 **D. Lane Evans — 94,483 53% **R. Kenneth McMillan — 84,347 47% *Election of November 6, 1984 **D. Lane Evans — 128,273 57% **R. Kenneth McMillan — 98,069 43% *Election of November 4, 1986 **D. Lane Evans — 85,442 56% **R. Sam McHard — 68,101 44% *Election of November 8, 1988 **D. Lane Evans — 132,130 65% **R. William E. Stewart — 71,560 35% *Election of November 6, 1990 **D. Lane Evans — 102,062 67% **R. Dan Lee — 51,380 33% *Election of November 3, 1992 **D. Lane Evans — 156,233 60% **R. Kenneth Schloemer — 103,719 40% *Election of November 8, 1994 **D. Lane Evans — 95,312 55% **R. Jim Anderson — 79,471 45% *Election of November 5, 1996 **D. Lane Evans — 120,008 52% **R. Mark W. Baker — 109,240 47% **L. William J. Herrman — 1,925 1% *Election of November 3, 1998 **D. Lane Evans — 100,128 52% **R. Mark W. Baker — 94,072 48% *Election of November 7, 2000 **D. Lane Evans — 132,494 55% **R. Mark W. Baker — 108,853 45% *Election of November 5, 2002 **D. Lane Evans — 127,093 62% **R. Peter Calderone — 76,519 38% *Election of November 2, 2004 **D. Lane Evans — 172,320 61% **R. Andrea Zinga — 111,680 39%

References

External links