Michael Patrick Flanagan (born November 9, 1962) is an American attorney, former politician, and United States Army captain who served as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 5th congressional district from 1995 to 1997. A member of the Republican Party, Flanagan is best known best known for his victory over eighteen-term congressman Dan Rostenkowski in the 1994 midterm elections.
For beating Rostenkowski, he was given the moniker of the "Rosty-slayer." He was one of 58 Republican victories (for a net gain of 54 seats) in the House of Representatives that allowed the party to take control of both houses of Congress, as part of the Republican Revolution.
Early life and education
Flanagan was born in Chicago, Illinois, on November 9, 1962, the second of five sons in a family of Irish-descent. He graduated from Lane Technical High School, and he earned a B.A. from Loyola University in 1984 and a J.D. from Loyola University School of Law in 1988.
The election result was a considerable upset, considering that Flanagan was, according to the Chicago Tribune, "a political neophyte who was underfunded, understaffed and unknown." opposing abortion and gun control,
While the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune both endorsed Flanagan for reelection in 1996, he was regarded as a heavy underdog against the Democratic challenger, State Representative Rod Blagojevich, being a conservative Republican in a strongly Democratic district. Before Flanagan's election, the district and its predecessors had been in Democratic hands for all but one year since 1909. As expected, the district reverted to form; Blagojevich soundly defeated Flanagan, and Bill Clinton easily carried the district. Flanagan's loss was one of the 12 seats first-term Republican candidates lost in the 1996 election. Proving just how Democratic this district was and still is, no Republican has tallied more than 35 percent of the vote since Flanagan left office. As of 2024, he is the last Republican to represent a significant part of Chicago in the U.S. House.
Electoral history
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|colspan=8 style="text-align:center;" |ELECTORAL HISTORY
|-
|Year
|Office
|Winning Candidate
|Party
|Pct
|Opponent
|Party
|Pct
|-
|1994
|U.S. House
|bgcolor=#FFB3B3 |Michael Flanagan
|bgcolor=#FFB3B3 |Republican
|bgcolor=#FFB3B3 |54%
|bgcolor=#B3D9FF |Dan Rostenkowski (inc.)
|bgcolor=#B3D9FF |Democrat
|bgcolor=#B3D9FF |46%
|-
|1996
|U.S. House
|bgcolor=#B3D9FF |Rod Blagojevich
|bgcolor=#B3D9FF |Democrat
|bgcolor=#B3D9FF |64%
|bgcolor=#FFB3B3 |Michael Flanagan (inc.)
|bgcolor=#FFB3B3 |Republican
|bgcolor=#FFB3B3 |36%
|-
Post-congressional career
Flanagan moved to Washington, D.C., in 1999 and is currently the president of Flanagan Consulting LLC. He has been active in Illinois Boys State since 1979. Flanagan worked in Iraq for two years for the U.S. State Department, as part of a team sent to help set up democratic institutions in the country.