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Terry Link
Terry Link (Democratic Party) is a former member of the Illinois State Senate, representing District 30 from 1997 to 2020.
On August 13, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois charged Link with tax evasion. He resigned from the state Senate on September 12 of the same year.[1] Click here to learn more.
Link (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Illinois State Senate to represent District 30. He won in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Biography
Link earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stout (formerly Stout State). His professional experience includes owning a business and working as director of government affairs for Johnson Controls.[2]
Committee assignments
2019-2020
Link was assigned to the following committees:
- Assignments Committee
- Committee of the Whole
- Senate Insurance Committee
- Senate Financial Institutions Committee, Vice Chair
- Senate Executive Committee
- Executive Appointments Committee
- Energy and Public Utilities Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Illinois committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Committee of the Whole |
| • Energy and Public Utilities |
| • Executive Appointments |
| • Executive |
| • Financial Institutions, Vice chair |
| • Gaming |
| • Insurance |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Link served on the following committees:
| Illinois committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Energy and Public Utilities |
| • Executive |
| • Financial Institutions, Vice chair |
| • Insurance |
| • Legislative Ethics |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Link served on the following committees:[3]
| Illinois committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Committee of the Whole |
| • Executive |
| • Financial Institutions, Vice-Chairperson |
| • Local Government |
| • Transportation |
| • Legislative Ethics Commission |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Link served on these committees:
| Illinois committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Committee of the Whole |
| • Financial Institutions, Vice Chair |
| • Gaming, Chair |
| • Human Services |
| • Local Government |
| • State Government & Veterans Affairs |
| • Legislative Ethics |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Link served on these committees:[4]
| Illinois committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Elections |
| • Financial Institutions |
| • Gaming, Chairman |
| • Judiciary |
| • Local Government |
Issues
Medicaid
- Excerpt: "Thousands of low income people are now using emergency rooms as their primary care doctors. It is negatively impacting their long-term health as well as hospital and state finances,” Link said. “This would allow them to be covered by Medicaid with the federal government covering the cost. It’s a common sense plan that I’m happy to support.”[5]
Gaming license
On December 1, 2010, the Illinois Senate voted 31-20 in favor of a plan that allows for five additional casinos and electronic gaming at horse track facilities, increasing the number of licenses for casinos in the state to 15.
Under the plan, new casinos would operate in Chicago, southern Cook County, Danville, Rockford and Waukegan.
"Is it a huge expansion? Yes, I'm not going to deny it. But we have a huge deficit in the state of Illinois, we have got huge problems in the state of Illinois, so you don't look at little things to fix it, you look at big things to fix it," said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan.[6]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2018
- See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Illinois State Senate District 30
Incumbent Terry Link defeated Soojae Lee in the general election for Illinois State Senate District 30 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Terry Link (D) | 68.0 | 38,860 |
| Soojae Lee (R) | 32.0 | 18,263 | ||
| Total votes: 57,123 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 30
Incumbent Terry Link advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 30 on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Terry Link | 100.0 | 14,181 |
| Total votes: 14,181 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 30
Soojae Lee advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 30 on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Soojae Lee | 100.0 | 5,062 | |
| Total votes: 5,062 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2014
- See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for the Illinois State Senate 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 Terry Link ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Don Wilson ran unopposed in the Republican primary. Link then defeated Wilson in the general election.[7][8][9][10]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Terry Link Incumbent |
59.2% | 26,387 | |
| Republican | Don Wilson | 40.8% | 18,169 | |
| Total Votes | 44,556 | |||
2012
- See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2012
Link won re-election to the Illinois State Senate in District 30 in the 2012 election. Link was unopposed in the Democratic primary on March 20, 2012, and defeated Don Castella (R) in the general election on November 6, 2012.[11][12][13]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Terry Link |
66.6% | 44,274 | |
| Republican | Don Castella | 33.4% | 22,173 | |
| Total Votes | 66,447 | |||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Democrat Terry Link won re-election to the Illinois State Senate District 30 receiving 42,407 votes, ahead of Republican Keith Gray receiving 30,771 votes.[14]
| Illinois State Senate, District 30 (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Terry Link (D)
|
42,407 | |||
| Keith Gray (R) | 23,141 | |||
Noteworthy events
Tax evasion charge and resignation (2020)
On August 13, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois charged Link with tax evasion. He resigned from the state Senate on September 12, 2020.[1] He pleaded guilty on September 16, 2020.[15]
As of July 2021, Ballotpedia staff could not identify a statement from Link in response to the charge and resignation.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Illinois scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2020
In 2020, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 8 to May 23.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills that "help or hinder Illinois citizens with developmental disabilities access more included lives in their homes and communities."
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 9 through December 31.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 8 through May 31.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 11 through May 31. There were also special sessions. The 1st special session was June 21-July 6. The 2nd special session was July 26-July 31. During the 3rd special session, the Senate met on August 13, and the House met on August 16. The 4th special session was on August 28-29. There was a veto session from October 24-November 9.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 13 through May 31.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 14 through December 7 (extended session).
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 29 through June 2.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 9 through May 31.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 11 through May 31.
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Endorsements
2014
In 2014, Link's endorsements included the following:[18][19]
- Equality Illinois Political Action Committee (PAC)
- The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Terry and his wife, Susan, have four daughters and two grandchildren.[2]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Terry Link Illinois Senate. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- State legislative elections, 2018
- Illinois State Senate elections, 2018
- State legislative special elections, 2018
- Illinois State Senate
- Senate Committees
- Illinois State Legislature
- Illinois state legislative districts
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Illinois Legislature website
- Profile from Open States
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Summary, biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Profile at Wikipedia
- Campaign contributions via Follow the Money: 2012, 2010 Lt. Governor, 2010 Senate, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1998, 1996
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 WAND17, "Illinois State Senator facing tax-evasion charge resigns," September 12, 2020
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Illinois Senate Democrats, "Senator Terry Link Bio," accessed February 18, 2014
- ↑ Illinois Senate Democrats, "Committee Assignments," accessed February 18, 2014
- ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "List of Illinois Senate Committees," July 28, 2009
- ↑ Illinois Senate Democrats, "Senator Terry Link News," accessed February 18, 2014
- ↑ "Senate OKs new gaming rules in Illinois," Illinois Statehouse News, December 1, 2010
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate List," accessed December 5, 2011
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Official 2012 Primary Results," accessed May 14, 2014
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, “Official Vote - November 6, 2012 General Election,” accessed December 31, 2012
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Illinois Senate election results for 2008," November 4, 2008
- ↑ Chicago Sun Times, "Longtime lawmaker Terry Link, who wore wire on colleague, pleads guilty in tax case," September 16, 2020
- ↑ Citizen Action Illinois, "99th General Assembly Legislative Scorecard 2016," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Illinois Parents of Adults with Developmental Disabilities, "2016 Illinois Community Living Report," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Windy City Media Group, "Equality Illinois PAC issues endorsements," January 17, 2014
- ↑ Illinois AFL-CIO, "2014 Illinois AFL-CIO Primary Election Endorsements," accessed March 5, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ' |
Illinois State Senate District 30 1997-2020 |
Succeeded by Adriane Johnson (D) |
