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Leslie Munger
Leslie Geissler Munger is a former Republican comptroller of Illinois. She was first appointed to the position on January 12, 2015, to replace interim officeholder Jerry Stermer.[1] Stermer was appointed on December 19, 2014, to replace Judy Baar Topinka (R), who died on December 9 of the same year. Munger served until a special election was held in 2016 for the remainder of Topinka's term. Click here to learn more about the debate over appointing Topinka's replacement.
Munger ran for re-election as comptroller in 2016.[2] She was defeated in the general election on November 8, 2016.
She was a 2014 Republican candidate for District 59 of the Illinois House of Representatives.
Biography
Munger earned her B.S. from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and her M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Business at Northwestern University. Her professional experience includes working as hair care category director for Helene Curtis/Unilever, as assistant brand manager for Orange Crush for Procter & Gamble and as administrator of consulting, staff recruiting and training for McKinsey & Company, Inc.[3]
Political career
Illinois Comptroller (2015-2016)
Munger was appointed to the comptroller's office on January 5, 2015, and sworn into office on January 12. She was selected to serve the first two years of Judy Baar Topinka's (R) term. She campaigned in 2016 to serve out the remainder of Topinka's term, but lost the general election on November 8, 2016.[1]
Campaign themes
2014
Munger's campaign website highlighted the following issues:[4]
Jobs
- Excerpt: "Lower the cost of doing business to make Illinois a more business-friendly state again. Allow the 2011 Quinn-Madigan tax hike to expire in 2015 for both corporations and individuals. Replace revenue by recruiting new businesses to Illinois."
Taxes
- Excerpt: "Repeal the Quinn-Madigan 2011 tax hike to make the state more competitive both nationally and globally."
- Excerpt: "Lower other taxes — sales, property and excise taxes — so Illinois has the lowest taxes relative to neighboring states."
- Excerpt: "Reject the graduated “progressive” tax that is being proposed and work to reduce and eventually abolish individual and corporate taxes."
- Excerpt: "Pass legislation to ensure that property taxes do not go up if the value of a home decreases."
- Excerpt: "Grow the economy, and with it the number of corporations and individuals who pay taxes."
Spending and debt
- Excerpt: "Run Illinois like a business; expenditures should NOT exceed revenues.cut-waste"
- Excerpt: "Cut wasteful spending by zero-basing budgets."
- Excerpt: "Put in place a plan to pay off the debt by spending less than we take in."
- Excerpt: "Make government more transparent and efficient by putting the state payments on line."
- Excerpt: "Reform pension system so taxpayer priorities of schools, roads, and public health and safety can be fully funded."
Pension reform
- Excerpt: "Protect already earned benefits for ALL government workers while providing financial security for taxpayers, and creating an environment that will attract businesses and job creators."
- Excerpt: "Empower government workers by transitioning benefits for all future work to a defined contribution system."
- Excerpt: "Utilize a defined contribution system to help modernize and streamline Illinois’ retirement systems by securing monies and not allowing politicians to raid funds. Focus on eliminating political control and empowering the individual to manage their own retirement funds. YOU SHOULD BE IN CHARGE, NOT SPRINGFIELD."
- Excerpt: "Require Illinois pension systems to make complete actuarial data available to the public. Improve transparency enabling watchdog groups, policy institutes, and private actuaries to analyze, challenge, and verify the status of the state’s various pension systems."
Elections
2016
Primary
Munger ran for re-election as comptroller in 2016. She was unopposed in the Republican primary on March 15, 2016, and competed with challengers Claire Ball (Lib.), Tim Curtin (Green Party), and Susana Mendoza (D) in the November general election..[2]
General
Her opponents in the November 2016 special election were Libertarian Claire Ball and Democrat Susana Mendoza, the Chicago city clerk and former member of the Illinois House of Representatives.[5]
Susana Mendoza defeated Leslie Munger, Claire Ball, and Tim Curtin in the Illinois comptroller election.
| Illinois Comptroller, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Susana Mendoza |
49.45% | 2,676,244 | |
| Republican | Leslie Munger | 44.43% | 2,404,723 | |
| Libertarian | Claire Ball | 3.46% | 187,017 | |
| Green | Tim Curtin | 2.67% | 144,559 | |
| Total Votes | 5,412,543 | |||
| Source: Illinois Secretary of State | ||||
2014
Elections for the Illinois House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on March 18, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was December 2, 2013. Incumbent Carol Sente ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Leslie Munger ran unopposed in the Republican primary. Sente then defeated Munger in the general election.[6][7][8][9]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Carol Sente Incumbent |
52.4% | 14,528 | |
| Republican | Leslie Munger | 47.6% | 13,179 | |
| Total Votes | 27,707 | |||
Media
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Munger and her husband, John, have two children.[3]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Leslie + Munger + Illinois + House"
External links
- Illinois Comptroller
- VoteMunger.com
- Project Vote Smart biography
- Facebook, "Vote Munger"
- Twitter, "Leslie 4 State Rep"
- Leslie Munger YouTube page
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 WGN TV, "Rauner to appoint Leslie Munger as next Illinois comptroller," January 5, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionInformation/CandList.aspx?SearchType=Type+Of+Office&ListType=RESULTS+OF+SEARCH+BY+TYPE+OF+OFFICE&ElectionID=50&ElectionType=GP&ElectionDate=3%2f15%2f2016&ElectionYear=2016&OfficeTypeSearchType=Matches&OfficeType=STATEWIDE+EXECUTIVE+OFFICES&QueryType=CANDIDATE&StatusSearchType=Matches&Status=&OrderBy=ORDER+BY+tblOffices.BallotGroup%2c+OfficeSequence%2cPartySequence%2c+FileDateTime%2c+vwCandidates.Sequence%2cID%2c+LotteryLastName%2c+LotteryFirstName Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate List: General Primary - 3/15/2016," accessed November 30, 2015]
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Official campaign website, "Bio," accessed March 3, 2014
- ↑ Official campaign website, "Issues," accessed March 3, 2014
- ↑ Greg Hinz, Crain's Chicago Business, "City Clerk Mendoza steps up campaign for Illinois comptroller," June 5, 2015
- ↑ Illinois Secretary of State, "Official candidate list," accessed March 18, 2014
- ↑ Illinois Board of Elections, "General Primary Election Official Canvass," April 18, 2014
- ↑ Illinois Secretary of State, "Official general election candidate list," accessed March 18, 2014
- ↑ The Chicago Tribune, "Results List (Unofficial)," accessed November 5, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jerry Stermer |
Illinois Comptroller 2015-2017 |
Succeeded by Susana Mendoza |
| ||||||||||||||
