Schock, Aaron, 1981-

Aaron Jon Schock (born May 28, 1981) is an American businessman, entrepreneur, and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he notably served as the U.S. Representative for Illinois's 18th congressional district from 2009 to 2015. He was the first member of the U.S. Congress born in the 1980s; when he took his seat in 2009 he was the youngest member of Congress, at age 27.

Born in Morris, Minnesota, he moved with his family to Peoria, Illinois when he was in fourth grade. Attending Richwoods High School in Peoria, Schock began attending classes at Illinois Central College in East Peoria as a high school senior. He was elected to the Peoria Board of Education as a write-in candidate in 2001. The following year, Schock received a B.S. degree from Bradley University. At the age of 23, Schock was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, becoming the youngest member of the Illinois General Assembly in state history. In 2008, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, succeeding Ray LaHood.

Schock was considered to be more conservative than his two moderate predecessors, Congressmen Bob Michel and Ray LaHood. The Chicago Tribune, in their endorsements for the 2008 general election, described Schock's political positions to be fiscally conservative and somewhat moderate on social issues. Nevertheless, he has said he would have supported the financial bailout plan, or the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, that passed Congress in October 2008 and he did not support the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in 2010. Schock voted against the $787 billion stimulus plan in February 2009. He also voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010. Schock received a zero percent rating from the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT advocacy group and political lobbying organization. Schock voted against amending federal hate crimes laws to include crimes where the victims were targeted on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender and disability.

Schock resigned from Congress in March 2015 amid a scandal involving his use of public and campaign funds. A subsequent congressional ethics investigation "revealed that he used taxpayer money to fund lavish trips and events". In November 2016, a federal grand jury indicted him in connection with the scandal. After he pled not guilty, prosecutors reached a deferred prosecution agreement with him in March 2019 whereby all charges against him were dropped in return for a period of good behavior and payment of $100,000 in restitution. As part of the deal, Schock's campaign committee, Schock for Congress, also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of failing to properly report expenses.

Despite having a voting record of consistently opposing LGBTQ rights, Schock came out as gay in March 2020 and expressed regret for some of his previous policy decisions.