Walter W. Dudycz (born March 11, 1950) is an American politician who served as 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 ...

from 1985 until 2003.

Biography

Dudycz, a

Ukrainian American Ukrainian Americans are Americans who are of full or partial Ukrainians, Ukrainian ancestry. According to U.S. census estimates, in 2021 there were 1,017,586 Americans of Ukrainian descent representing 0.3% of the American population. The Ukr ...

was born 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 ...

to a janitor mother and a factory worker father. He was raised on the West Side of Chicago. Dudycz was a veteran of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and served 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 ...

. After the war, he became a

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

with the

Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, under the jurisdiction of the Chicago City Council. It is the second-largest Law enforcement in the United States#Local, ...

. Dudycz was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1984. Dudycz earned a bachelor's degree from

Northeastern Illinois University Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) is a public university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. NEIU serves approximately 5,000 students in the region and is both a federally designated Hispanic-serving institution and Asian American and Nat ...

. In 1990, Dudycz ran for 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 ...

against longtime Democratic incumbent

Frank Annunzio Frank Annunzio (January 12, 1915 – April 8, 2001) was an American politician from Chicago, Illinois. Annunzio, an Italian-American, was born in Chicago, where he remained for his entire childhood and much of his adult life. He attended Cra ...

, but lost. After the 2001 decennial redistricting, he chose to retire from the Illinois Senate in 2001. His old district had been dismantled, and he faced the prospect of running against incumbent Democrat

James DeLeo James A. DeLeo is a former Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 10th district since 1992, and is an Assistant Majority Leader. Earlier he served in the Illinois House of Representatives. He announced his retirement from t ...

, whose district had absorbed most of the Chicago portion of his old district, or incumbent Republican Dave Sullivan, whose district had absorbed much of the suburban portion. He was the last Republican state senator representing a significant portion of Chicago. 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 ...

, Dudycz ran to be a delegate to the

2008 Republican National Convention The 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008. The first day of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's convention fell on Labo ...

from

Illinois's 9th congressional district The 9th congressional district of Illinois covers parts of Cook County, Illinois, Cook, Lake County, Illinois, Lake, and McHenry County, Illinois, McHenry counties as of the 2021 redistricting which followed the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

for 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 Governor

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

Personal life

Dudycz is married to Oksana.''Illinois blue book, 1985-1986'' Biographical Sketch of Walter W. Dudycz pg 70 He had two daughters; one of whom is writer

Valya Dudycz Lupescu Valya Dudycz Lupescu is a Ukrainian American writer of magic realism and speculative fiction. Background and personal life A second-generation Ukrainian American, Lupescu's writing reflects both her Ukrainian heritage and her American life ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudycz, Walter 1950 births Living people Republican Party Illinois state senators Politicians from Chicago United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Military personnel from Illinois Northeastern Illinois University alumni American politicians of Ukrainian descent American police detectives Chicago Police Department officers 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly