Mike Frerichs

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Mike Frerichs
Treasurer of Illinois
Assumed office
January 12, 2015
Governor Bruce Rauner
Preceded by Dan Rutherford
Member of the Illinois Senate
from the 52nd district
In office
January 2007 – January 12, 2015
Preceded by Rick Winkel
Succeeded by Scott Bennett
Auditor of Champaign County
In office
2002–2007
Preceded by Gerrie Parr
Succeeded by Tony Fabri
Personal details
Born (1973-07-28) July 28, 1973 (age 51)
Gifford, Illinois, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Alma mater Yale University
National Cheng Kung University
Religion Lutheranism

Michael W. "Mike" Frerichs (born July 28, 1973) is the State Treasurer of Illinois, having taken office on January 12, 2015. Prior to being elected treasurer, he was a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 52nd District since 2007. The East Central Illinois district, located in Champaign and Vermilion counties, includes all or parts of Champaign, Danville, Georgetown, Gifford, Rantoul, Thomasboro and Urbana.[1]

In the 98th General Assembly, Frerichs served as the chairman of the Higher Education committee[2] and had previously served as chairman of the Agriculture & Conservation and Enterprise Zone Extensions committees.[3][4]

Early life and career

Frerichs was born and raised in the small farming town of Gifford. Upon graduating from Rantoul Township High School, Frerichs attended Yale University and received his BA in 1995. He then attended National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan where he studied Mandarin Chinese while teaching English courses.[5] Upon returning home, Frerichs began to teach at his alma mater and became involved in the community, including, serving on his local volunteer fire department, on the board of a local non-profit nursing home, and as a member of the Urbana Rotary Club.

Champaign County official

In 1998, Frerichs ran against then-State Representative Tim Johnson and though he lost, it was the closest margin in Johnson’s political career.[6] In 2000 Frerichs was elected to the Champaign County Board and reelected in 2002.[7][8]

Later that year, Frerichs was appointed to succeed Gerrie Parr as the Champaign County Auditor by his fellow board members.[9] As Auditor he was responsible for preparing budget reports, maintaining financial records, ensuring the county meet state and federal reporting requirements, preventing fraud and improving the financial health of the county.[10] At the time, he was the only auditor in the state to become a Certified Public Finance Officer, a credential he continues to maintain.[2][5] Two years later, he was elected to the position.

Illinois State Senator

In 2005, Frerichs announced he would run for the 52nd Legislative District seat that includes most of Champaign County and Vermilion County to fill the vacancy caused by Rick Winkel’s retirement.[11] In what became the most expensive state senate race of 2006,[12] Senator Frerichs was elected over former Senator Judith Myers to the by a margin of approximately five hundred votes.[13][14] as the first Democratic State Senator to represent East Central Illinois since 1936.[15]

Frerichs served as Chairman of the Illinois State Senate's Committee on Higher Education[2] and was a past-chair of the Agriculture & Conservation and Enterprise Zone Extensions.[3][4] He also sat on the committees for Financial Institutions, Licensed Activities and Pensions, Public Pensions & State Investments and the Agriculture & Conservation.[2]

During his time in the Senate, Frerichs led efforts to eliminate the corrupt legislative scholarship program,[16] advocated for the disclosure of chemicals used in fracking,[17] and funded improvements at the University of Illinois, Parkland College and Danville Community College while fighting to reduce Illinois' disparities in education funding.[18] After Governor Rod Blagojevich was removed from office for corruption, Frerichs moved to have the former governor barred from ever holding office again in Illinois. This motion, like the vote to remove him, carried unanimously.[19]

Treasurer of Illinois

2014 election

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See also: Illinois elections, 2014 § Treasurer

Frerichs announced his intention to run for the vacated office of Treasurer of Illinois in early January of 2014, after incumbent Republican Treasurer Dan Rutherford had announced his intention to run for Governor of Illinois. Frerichs ran uncontested in the Democratic Party primary and faced Illinois State Representative and former Illinois State House Minority Leader Tom Cross in the General Election on November 4.[20]

For more than two weeks after election day, the election was too close to call, but eventually Frerichs was declared the winner, defeating Cross 48.1% to 47.8%, as the election ended up being one of the closest in Illinois state history, being decided by only 9,225 votes out of more than 3.5 million ballots cast.[21][22][23]

Tenure

He was inaugurated on January 12, 2015 and is serving as the Treasurer of Illinois.[24]

Electoral history

2006 General Election Results – Illinois’s 52nd Senate District [14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mike Frerichs 27,149 48.8
Republican Judith Myers 26,607 47.8
Socialist Joseph Parnaraukis 1,894 3.4
Democratic gain from Republican
2010 General Election Results- Illinois's 52nd Senate District [25]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mike Frerichs 32,583 61.5
Republican Al Reynolds 20,450 38.5
Democratic hold
2012 General Election Results- Illinois's 52nd Senate District [26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mike Frerichs 48,493 64.8
Republican John Bambenek 26,310 35.2
Democratic hold
2014 General Election Results – Illinois’s State Treasurer[27]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mike Frerichs 1,694,884 48.05
Republican Tom Cross 1,685,659 47.79
Libertarian Matt Skopek 146,654 4.16
Democratic gain from Republican

References

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  13. ↑ http://illinoisissues-archive.uis.edu/briefly/leaders200701.html
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  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Treasurer of Illinois
2015–present		 Incumbent
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