W. Robert Blair

The 1960 reapportionment process was stalled by partisan gridlock. Subsequently, the Illinois Supreme Court ordered an at large election for all 177 members of the Illinois House in 1964. Voters were given ballots three feet long.^[6] Blair was one of fifty-nine Republicans elected to 177 seats.^[4] Blair was a and served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1965 to 1975.^[2]

After a 1965 Illinois Supreme Court Case to resolve the redistricting issue, Blair's home was drawn into the 41st district which consisted of Wheatland, DuPage, Plainfield, Lockport, Homer, Troy, Joliet, New Lenox, Frankfort, Manhattan, Green Garden, Monee, Crete, Wilton, Peotone, Will, Washington, townships in Will County. Blair was elected as one of the district's three representatives alongside William G. Barr and John J. Houlihan.^[7]

He served as speaker during the 77th and 78th Illinois General Assemblies. He was not reelected in the 1974 general election. After his time in the legislature, he served as a public member of the Illinois Transportation Study Commission.^[2]

In 1978, he was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Illinois Comptroller. Blair ran against John W. Castle, director of the Department of Local Government Affairs for Governor James R. Thompson. Thompson, who had convinced Castle to run for Comptroller instead of Treasurer, endorsed Castle leading Blair to criticize Castle for an inability to do the job independently. With more than 52% of the vote, Castle defeated Blair in the Republican primary.^[8][9] In 1982, he ran for the Republican nomination for Illinois Treasurer. He lost the primary to Peoria businessman John Dailey.^[10]

Blair died January 18, 2014.