Rick Winkel

Richard J. "Rick" Winkel (born September 25, 1956) is an American politician and lawyer.

Rick Winkel
Member of the Illinois Senate
from the 52nd district
In office
January 2003 (2003-Jan) – January 2007 (2007-Jan)
Preceded byStanley B. Weaver
Succeeded byMike Frerichs
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives
from the 103rd district
In office
January 1995 (1995-January) – January 2003 (2003-January)
Preceded byLaurel Lunt Prussing
Succeeded byNaomi Jakobsson
Personal details
Born (1956-09-25) September 25, 1956
Kankakee, Illinois
Political partyRepublican
ResidenceChampaign, Illinois
Alma materUniversity of Illinois (B.A.)
DePaul University (J.D.)
ProfessionAttorney

Early life and education

Born in Kankakee, Illinois, Winkel received his bachelor's degree in economics at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and his J.D. degree at DePaul University College of Law. He practiced law first in Bourbonnais, Illinois and later in Champaign, Illinois.[1][2]

Career in politics

In 1992, he was elected to the Champaign County Board.[3] In 1994, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, defeating one term incumbent Laurel Lunt Prussing.[4] From 1995 to 2003, Winkel served in the Illinois House of Representatives as a Republican. In 2002, he defeated Democrat and former Champaign mayor Dan McCollum to succeed longtime Senator Stanley B. Weaver in the Illinois Senate.[5][6] He served in the Illinois Senate for one term from 2003 to 2007.[1]

Winkel is the director of the Office of Public Leadership at the University of Illinois' Institute of Government and Public Affairs. In 2012, Winkel ran for the Republican nomination for Champaign County Circuit Clerk, but withdrew before the primary to take a job with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.[7]

On April 26, 2010, Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno appointed Winkel to the Illinois Plain Language Task Force.[8] The task force was assembled to conduct a study and propose legislative measures designed to realize: (1) the potential benefits of incorporating plain language in State government documents, statutes, and contracts; and (2) how plain language principles might be incorporated into the statutes governing contracts among private parties so as to provide additional protections to Illinois consumers, to reduce litigation between private parties over the meaning of contractual terms, and to foster judicial economy.[9]

Notes
  1. 'Illinois Blue Book 2005-2006,' Biographical Sketch of Rick Winkel, pg. 118
  2. University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs-Richard J. Winkel Archived 2015-01-09 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Illinois Blue Book 1997-1998 Biographical Sketch of Rick Winkel page 122
  4. Wheeler III, Charles N (October 1994). "'Home field' for GOP: Computer-drawn map has GOP targeting House districts in attempt to gain control of lower chamber". Illinois Issues. Sangamon State University. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  5. Long, Ray and Christi Parsons (November 6, 2002). "Democrats win Senate and lock on legislature". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  6. Bloomer, J. Phillip (November 13, 2003). "Former Urbana mayor, longtime legislator dies". The News-Gazette. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  7. Kacich, Tom (February 8, 2012). "Winkel drops out of circuit clerk race, takes new UI job". The News-Gazette. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  8. Wolff, Jonathan P., ed. (October 31, 2018). "40235 Plain Language Task Force, Illinois" (PDF). Expiration and Vacancy Report for the Governor of Illinois. Illinois Legislative Research Unit. p. 282. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  9. Gruber, Amanda (August 1, 2018). "Publication 425: State Board and Commission Descriptions" (PDF). Illinois Legislative Research Unit. p. 431. Retrieved December 12, 2018.


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