Lane Evans

Lane Allen Evans (August 4, 1951 – November 5, 2014) was an American attorney and politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 until 2007, representing the 17th district of Illinois. Evans announced that he would not seek reelection in November 2006 and retired at the end of the 109th Congress, due to the increasingly debilitating effects of Parkinson's disease.

Background

Evans was born in 1951 in Rock Island, Illinois,

In 1982, Evans ran for and won the Democratic nomination for Illinois's 17th congressional district, which included most of Illinois' share of the Quad Cities area. It had been renumbered from the 19th District since Illinois lost two districts after the 1980 census. The district had been in Republican hands for all but two years since 1939. However, the brand of Republicanism that prevailed in the district had traditionally been a moderate one. Evans got a significant boost when 16-year incumbent Tom Railsback was defeated for renomination by a more conservative Republican, State Senator Kenneth McMillan. Taking advantage of hardships from that year's recession, Evans won by around 5 percentage points. Evans earned the highest opposition (90%) to President Reagan's agenda of any congress member during his first congressional session and then handily defeated McMillan in a 1984 rematch. Despite Ronald Reagan's landslide victory that year, Evans pulled in 57% to Reagan's 54% -besting the president by more than 5,000 votes in the 17th Congressional District. This was one of the few congressional districts where Reagan's percentage in the two-way was lower than the three-way in 1980.

Evans faced opposition in his next four campaigns and beat his 1990 Republican opponent, Dan Lee, by more than 50,000 votes with 67% of the vote. In 1994, Republicans retook the House, yet Evans held his seat and won by 9 points over a little-known Republican, Jim Anderson, who spent almost no money. This emboldened the Republicans for 1996, when Evans faced Mark Baker, an anchor at WGEM-TV in Quincy (the third-largest city in the district). Presidential candidate Bill Clinton carried the district by a healthy 30,000 votes, and Evans defeated Baker by 11,000 votes. A 1998 rematch was closer, with Evans only winning by 6,000 votes. A third run by Baker in 2000 saw Evans win by 10 points. Redistricting after the 2000 census made Evans safer. Decatur and part of Springfield were added while some more rural areas were taken out. The redistricting process, guided by House Speaker and 14th District Congressman Dennis Hastert and 3rd District Congressman Bill Lipinski, solidified the holdings of many Illinois incumbents. Evans was re-elected in 2002 and 2004.

Evans is credited with passage of the Agent Orange Act of 1991 which he sponsored. In 1995 he was awarded the Silver Helmet award from American Veterans Group (AMVETS). Evans was also instrumental in the election of Barack Obama during the 2004 United States Senate election in Illinois. However, this tactic backfired, and Evans won handily. During his tenure, Evans was one of the most liberal members of the House, and probably Illinois' most liberal congressman from outside Chicago. A founding member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and the House Populist Caucus despite Republican President George W. Bush winning the state by 118,457 votes.

In 2019 his biography Guts: The Lane Evans Story, authored by Devin Hansen, was published by Strong Arm Press.

The Rock Island Democratic Central Committee, for its part, agreed to a civil penalty of $30,000.

On November 5, 2014, Evans died at the age of 63 in a nursing home in East Moline, Illinois, from complications brought on by Parkinson's disease.

Background

Electoral history

2000

See also

References

External links