Peter Gosselin Fitzgerald

Peter Fitzgerald
United States Senator from Illinois
In office January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Carol Moseley Braun
Succeeded by	Barack Obama
Illinois State Senator from the 27th District
In office January 13, 1993 – November 16, 1998
Preceded by	Virginia B. Macdonald
Succeeded by	Wendell E. Jones
Personal details
Born	Peter Gosselin Fitzgerald October 20, 1960 (age 55) Elgin, Illinois, U.S.
Nationality	United States
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Nina Fitgerald
Alma mater	Dartmouth College Aristotelian University University of Michigan
Religion	Roman Catholic

Peter Gosselin Fitzgerald (born October 20, 1960) is a former United States Senator from Illinois. A Republican, he served from 1999 to 2005. Fitzgerald defeated the Democratic incumbent in 1998, becoming the first Republican senator from Illinois in 20 years. He had previously served in the Illinois State Senate from 1992 to 1998.

Known as a maverick for his willingness to break party lines, Fitzgerald retired from the Senate in 2005 and was succeeded byBarack Obama.

After retiring from politics, he and his wife moved to McLean, Virginia. The son of millionaire banking magnate Gerald Francis Fitzgerald,^[1]Peter founded Chain Bridge Bank in 2007.^[2]

Early life[edit]

Born in Elgin, Illinois, one of five children of Gerald Francis and Marjorie (née Gosselin) Fitzgerald,^[3] he graduated from Portsmouth Abbey School, a Catholic boarding school in 1978, and fromDartmouth College in 1982. He completed his post-graduate studies as a Rotary Scholar at Aristotelian University in Greece, and earned his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1986. His family has been continuously involved in commercial banking since the mid-1940s.^[4] His father built Suburban Bancorp, a chain of suburban banks, by aggressively founding and buying banks around the Chicago suburbs, which he sold in 1994 to a subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal for $246 million.^[4]

Political career[edit]

State Senate[edit]

Fitzgerald was first elected to the state Senate in 1992. He was a member of a group of conservative state senators elected in 1992. They often challenged the leadership of the Illinois Republican Party and were dubbed the "Fab Five." The group also included Steve Rauschenberger, Dave Syverson, Patrick O'Malley and Chris Lauzen.^[5]

1998 senatorial campaign[edit]

See also: United States Senate election in Illinois, 1998

Fitzgerald announced his intention to challenge Democratic incumbent U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun in the 1998 election. He faced Illinois Comptroller Loleta Didrickson in the Republican primary. Didrickson had the support of the state Republican party, including Governor Jim Edgar and former Republican presidential nomineeBob Dole, who served as her national campaign chairman.^[6] A hard-fought primary ensued, and Fitzgerald narrowly defeated the establishment candidate, becoming the Republican nominee.

Despite great support from Republicans and Independents, he had alienated some of the party establishment during the primary. Meanwhile, Braun was helped by notable Democrats such as First Lady Hillary Clinton and U.S. Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez; final polling had the candidates running even.^[7] Fitzgerald defeated the first-term Senator Carol Moseley Braun in the general election, by a 2.9% margin.

He was the first Republican in Illinois to win a U.S. Senate race in 20 years and the only Republican challenger in the country to defeat an incumbent Democratic senator in the 1998 election cycle.

Senate tenure[edit]