Randy Hultgren


Randall Mark Hultgren is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Hultgren represented the 48th district Senate seat in the Illinois General Assembly from 2007 to 2011. The 48th Senate District includes parts of DuPage, Kane, and Will counties and all or part of Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, Naperville, North Aurora, Warrenville, West Chicago, Wheaton, and Winfield.
In his 2018 reelection campaign, Hultgren was defeated by Democratic nominee Lauren Underwood.

Early life, education, and early political career

Randall Mark "Randy" Hultgren, the youngest of three children of Vernon H. Hultgren and JoAnne R. Hultgren, lived in Park Ridge, Illinois from 1966 to 1977.
In September 1976, Paul W. Hanerhoff, the owner of Hanerhoff Funeral Home in downtown Wheaton, Illinois since 1943, died. In May 1977, Dorothy B. Hanerhoff sold the funeral home to Hultgren's father, and it was called the Hanerhoff-Hultgren Funeral Home until 1987, when it became the Hultgren Funeral Home. The Hultgrens moved from Park Ridge to Wheaton in 1977 and lived upstairs from the funeral home for eight years. Hultgren attended Wheaton Academy in West Chicago, Illinois, graduating in 1984.
Hultgren, whose grandfather was a Baptist pastor, then became the third generation of his family to attend Bethel College & Seminary in Arden Hills, Minnesota, where he earned a B.A. magna cum laude in political science and speech communication in 1988.
He next moved to Washington, D.C. to work as an aide to Republican U.S. Representative Dennis Hastert from 1988 to 1990, where he rose from intern to office manager.
Hultgren then returned to his hometown where in 1990, he purchased a small house and was elected Republican precinct committeeman for Milton Township Precinct 20 in Wheaton, and began attending the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law in Chicago. In 1991 he married Christy L. Nungesser after she graduated from Bethel College. In August 1992 Hultgren had his small house demolished and had a historic 125-year-old Wheaton house he purchased for $1 moved one block west to his lot and had a new foundation poured under it. In 1993 he earned a J.D. from IIT Chicago-Kent.
In October 1993, he announced he would run in the March 1994 Republican primary for the DuPage County Board District 4 seat being vacated by Gwen Henry in her bid to be DuPage County Board Chairman. In the March 1994 Republican primary, the then 27-year-old first-time candidate Hultgren narrowly edged Wheaton City Councilman Grant Eckhoff by only 252 votes, a margin of less than 1%, out of almost 22,000 Republican ballots cast in DuPage County Board District 4. Hultgren received a great deal of support from those who had backed Peter Roskam of Wheaton in Roskam's first campaign for Illinois House District 40 two years earlier. In the November 1994 general election Hultgren and incumbent Republican DuPage County District 4 board member Pat Carr of Wheaton easily defeated their two Democratic opponents. Hultgren served one 4-year term as one of the then all-Republican 24-member DuPage County Board from December 1994 to December 1998. DuPage County Board members at that time also served as DuPage County Forest Commissioners.

Illinois House of Representatives

Elections

In 1998, incumbent Republican State Representative Peter Roskam of Illinois's 40th House District decided to retire to run for Congress. Hultgren ran and won unopposed. He won reelection to a second term unopposed in 2000. After redistricting, Hultgren decided to run in the newly redrawn 95th House District and defeated Democrat Dirk Enger 61%–37%.

Committee assignments

Hultgren was on the Death Penalty Committee and the Education Committee.

Illinois Senate

Elections

In 2006, incumbent State Senator Peter Roskam of Illinois's 48th Senate District decided to retire to run for Congress again. Hultgren ran and won the Republican primary 60%–40% over Naperville City Councilman Dick Furstenau. He won the general election unopposed. In 2008 he won reelection to a second term unopposed.

Committee assignments

Elections

2010

On September 28, 2009, Hultgren announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in and won the party's nomination in the February 2 primary election. Hultgren defeated Democratic incumbent Bill Foster 51%–45%.

2012

During his first term, Hultgren represented a hybrid suburban-rural district that stretched from the outer western suburbs of Chicago through Dixon all the way to Cambridge on the other side of the state.
As a result of the decennial reapportionment following the 2010 Census, Illinois lost one seat in the US House of Representatives. The new district map saw Hultgren's district lose its vast western portion, becoming much more compact and centered around Chicago's outer western suburbs. Notably, it absorbed most of McHenry County, the only collar county Barack Obama did not win in 2012.
The redrawn 14th included areas previously part of the neighboring 8th district, represented by fellow freshman Republican Joe Walsh. The new map drew Walsh's home, along with much of the McHenry County portion of the old 8th, into the 14th. At the same time the 8th was made significantly more Democratic, prompting Walsh to consider challenging Hultgren in the primary for the much friendlier 14th. But soon after Hultgren sought a second term in the 14th, Walsh decided to run in the 8th district. In the general election, Hultgren won reelection to a second term, beating Democratic candidate Dennis Anderson with 59% of the vote.

2014

Hultgren ran for a third term and was opposed by Dennis Anderson for a second time. Hultgren again defeated Anderson, this time with 65% of the vote.

2016

Hultgren defeated Democrat Jim Walz in the November 2016 general election with 59% of the vote.

2018

Hultgren ran for reelection in 2018. He was unopposed in the Republican primary. Lauren Underwood won the March 20 Democratic primary with 57.35% of the vote. Others receiving votes were Matt Brolley, Jim Walz, Victor Swanson, John Hosta, George Weber, and Daniel Roldan-Johnson. Underwood defeated Hultgren in the November general election with 52% of the vote to Hultgren's 48%.

Tenure

Hultgren served on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe from 2015 to 2019. In this role, he worked “to promote human rights, stability, and security in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly region," placing “special priority in protecting religious liberties, preventing human rights violations, combating human trafficking, and preventing Russian aggression into neighboring countries.” Hultgren was also a Commissioner on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, where he worked to "raise awareness about political prisoners who are being deprived of civil and political rights by their own government.”
In February 2017, Hultgren was appointed the co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, which “promotes international human rights through hearings, briefings and other awareness-building activities, and by providing expertise on key issues”.

Committee assignments

;112th Congress
;113th Congress
Hultgren was a member of the Republican Study Committee and the Climate Solutions Caucus.

Electoral history

DuPage County Board, 4th District (1994)

Illinois House, 40th Representative District (1998, 2000)

Illinois House, 95th Representative District (2002, 2004)

Illinois Senate, 48th Senate District (2006, 2008)

U.S. House, Illinois 14th Congressional District (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018)

Political positions

As of July 10, 2017, Hultgren voted with his party in 99.1% of votes so far in the current session of Congress and voted in line with President Donald Trump's position in 97.3% of votes.
During the 2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Hultgren worked on the presidential campaign of former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson, serving as a congressional district chair for Illinois's 14th congressional district.
Hultgren has been described as a member of the Tea Party movement.

Domestic issues

Education

Hultgren has been an advocate for homeschooling, as his 4 children are homeschooled, and he believes that "homeschooling is the ultimate local control." In 2011 Hultgren introduced the Family Educational Records Privacy Extension Act, which would have required "parental consent before educational agencies or institutions release the educational records of home-schooled students."