Vincent Persico

Also in 1986, Persico challenged incumbent Ralph H. Barger in the Republican primary to represent the 39th district in the Illinois General Assembly. He was unsuccessful. He ran for office three more times; first an unsuccessful rematch against Barger; a successful run for Milton Township Trustee; and a successful run two more attempts, defeating Barger in the 1990 Republican primary, which was tantamount to election. He continued to teach while a member of the Illinois House of Representatives.^[1]

In his first term, he was a member of the following committees; Education Appropriations; Educational Finance (vice spokesman); Elementary and Secondary Education; Energy and Environment; and Transportation and Motor Vehicles. He was Vice Spokesman for the Education Finance committee.^[2] During his tenure, he was active in deregulation and brownfield remediation issues. He was the leader of the successful movement to deregulate electric utilities in Illinois. He was the author of the rewritten Telecommunications Act, which deregulated telecommunications.^[3]

After announcing his intention not to run for reelection in the 2002 general election, Persico resigned early in order to become a lobbyist. His clients included DuPage County government and the Illinois Society of Eye Physicians.^[4][5] A panel, led by Pate Philip chose Roger Marquardt, executive director of the DuPage Airport, to complete the remainder of his term.^[6]