LaHood, Darin, 1968-

<p>Congressman Darin LaHood, born and raised in Peoria, serves the constituents of the 18th District of Illinois. Sworn into the US House of Representatives on September 17, 2015, LaHood quickly transitioned into office after his special election win on September 10. He won re-election to serve his third full-term in Congress on November 3, 2020, defeating his opponent with 70-percent of the vote.</p>

<p>The 18th District spans 19 counties across central and west-central Illinois, ranging from McLean County (Bloomington-Normal) to Adams County (Quincy). LaHood serves close to 710,000 constituents.</p>

<p>Prior to his election to Congress, LaHood served four years in the Illinois State Senate, beginning in 2011. LaHood spent more than nine years as a State and Federal Prosecutor. From 2001-2006, he worked for the U.S. Department of Justice as an Assistant United States Attorney in Las Vegas, Nevada. LaHood has also served as an Assistant State's Attorney in Cook County and Tazewell County. From 2006 up until his election to the House of Representatives, he practiced with the Peoria law firm of Miller, Hall & Triggs.</p>

LAHOOD, Darin, (son of Ray LaHood), a Representative from Illinois; born in Peoria, Peoria County, Ill., July 5, 1968; graduated from Spalding Institute, Peoria, Ill., 1986; B.A., Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa, 1990; J.D., John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Ill., 1997; lawyer, private practice; staff, United States Representative Charles Jeremy (Jerry) Lewis of California, 1990-1994; Cook County, Ill., prosecutor, 1997-1999; Tazewell County, Ill., prosecutor, 1999-2001; prosecutor, United States attorney for the District of Nevada, 2001-2005; adjunct professor, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nev., 2003-2005; member of the Illinois state senate, 2011-2015; elected as a Republican to the One Hundred Fourteenth Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of United States Representative Aaron Schock, and reelected to the three succeeding Congresses (September 10, 2015-present).

<p>Darin McKay LaHood (/ləˈhʊd/; born July 5, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Illinois' 18th congressional district since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the member of the Illinois Senate from the seven-county 37th legislative district (2011–2015). He was elected to Congress in a special election following the resignation of Aaron Schock.</p>

<p>LaHood, a native of Peoria, Illinois, is the son of Ray LaHood, the 16th United States Secretary of Transportation and before then seven-term U.S. Representative for the district his son currently represents. He has called himself a fiscal conservative focused on budget issues. While Ray was a moderate Republican, Darin is considered more conservative.</p>

<p>LaHood was born in Peoria, Illinois, to Kathy (Dunk) and Ray LaHood, as the eldest of four siblings, and went to Academy of Our Lady/Spalding Institute. He graduated from Loras College in Iowa and received his Juris Doctor from John Marshall Law School. His father is of Lebanese and German descent.</p>