Dan Rutherford


Dan Rutherford is an American politician who served as the 73rd Treasurer of Illinois from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the Illinois State Senator from the 53rd district from 2003 to 2011 and a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003.

Early life and education

Rutherford was born in Pontiac, Illinois. During elementary and high school Dan Rutherford worked at his parent’s pizza restaurant. and attended Pontiac Township High School. Following high school, Rutherford attended Illinois State University. While at Illinois State University, Rutherford was elected Student Body President.

Business career

While on a business trip to Japan in 1984, Rutherford became familiar with the ServiceMaster Company. One year later, he joined the Downers Grove, Illinois-headquartered company as an executive. Rutherford eventually became responsible for expansion of the company's businesses internationally, licensing services in Chile, Brazil, Honduras, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Guam, Venezuela, South Africa, Spain, and a host of other countries. ServiceMaster is a family of service companies with trade names such as ServiceMaster clean, Terminix, Tru-Green Chem Lawn, Merry Maids, American Home Shield, and Rescue Rooter.

Political career

1980 Reagan campaign

Dan Rutherford's public service career began following his graduation from Illinois State University as a legislative assistant in Springfield. In the GOP Primary of 1980, Rutherford coordinated a congressional district for Governor Ronald Reagan's campaign. Rutherford's work in coordinating that congressional district earned recognition from the Reagan National Campaign and he was subsequently tapped to serve as the Executive Director for the 1980 Reagan-Bush campaign.

Illinois General Assembly

In 1993, Rutherford was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. Rutherford eventually became Assistant Republican Leader.
Following 10 years of service in that body, in 2002, Rutherford was elected to represent Illinois' 53rd district in the Senate. In the Senate, Rutherford served as the ranking Republican for the Financial Institutions Committee and was a member of the Environment & Energy Committee. Senator Rutherford also served on the bi-partisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.
As a lawmaker, Senator Dan Rutherford sponsored and directed legislation which changed the formula for reimbursing nursing homes for care of the elderly. The new system bases rates on the medical needs of the resident, rather than just their geographic location in the state.

Political campaigns

2006 Illinois Secretary of State campaign

On September 12, 2005, Rutherford officially announced his campaign for the office of Illinois Secretary of State. Rutherford faced incumbent Democratic Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, of Jesse White Tumbling Team fame, and Green Party candidate Karen Young Peterson, in the November, 2006 election, but lost to Jesse White.

2010 Illinois Treasurer campaign

Rutherford won the open seat of Illinois Treasurer. Also running were Democratic nominee Robin Kelly, Green Party Party nominee Scott K. Summers and Libertarian nominee James Pauly.

2014 Governor

On June 2, 2013, Dan Rutherford officially announced his candidacy for Governor of Illinois. His running mate was attorney Steve Kim.
Rutherford lost in the 4-way Republican primary to businessman Bruce Rauner, taking 7.55% of the vote.

2014 Scandal

In February 2014, a former employee of Rutherford, Edmund Michalowski, filed a federal complaint alleging that Rutherford had sexually harassed him and had pressured him to do political work on state time. The complaint was filed just a few weeks before Rutherford was scheduled to face off against the other contenders in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Rutherford denied all allegations and charged that they were the work of his political opponent, Bruce Rauner. Rutherford vowed that he would continue on in the race A judge dismissed some of Michalowski's claims, such as Michalowski being forced to do political work on state time and Michalowski re-filed in April 2016, alleging harassment by Rutherford and four others. In November 2017, attorneys for Rutherford and Michalowski agreed that the lawsuit be "dismissed without prejudice", meaning that it could be re-filed.

Personal

Dan Rutherford has never been married. He has crewed in many Chicago-to-Mackinac Island races and is an Advanced Certified Diver.
Dan Rutherford has traveled to all seven continents.
His favorite food is pizza.

Electoral history