Trailblazing Illinois Lawmaker Who Crossed Aisles

Barbara Flynn Currie, who served in the Illinois House for forty years, died at 85. During a 2016 vote on Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s pension plan, she became the only Democrat to hand a handshake to three Republicans who defied their party and overrode Governor Bruce Rauner’s veto. Her career began in 1978 when the state legislature had fewer than eleven percent women. She rose to become the first female majority leader in 1997, a move that surprised many downstate Democrats who expected the role to stay within their circle. The position gave her a platform to push for reforms that benefited both women and the broader community. Currie championed liberal issues such as ending workplace sexual harassment, reforming school funding, and expanding all‑day kindergarten. She also worked to open state contracts to minority and female businesses and negotiated a compromise on welfare reform. In 2009 she led a bipartisan committee that recommended impeaching Governor Rod Blagojevich, arguing that overturning election results was a grave matter.

That impeachment succeeded with almost unanimous support across both houses of the legislature. Beyond policy, Currie was known for her willingness to cross party lines. She defended gun control and the abolition of the death penalty, showing a consistent commitment to public safety over partisan politics. Born in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, she moved to Chicago’s South Side at age seven. After early studies and a brief marriage, she returned to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science. She served as vice president of the Chicago League of Women Voters, taught at DePaul University, and worked with the National Opinion Research Center. She retired in 2017 after a long tenure that saw Illinois’ female legislators rise from under ten percent to more than forty percent. Her husband, a respected legal scholar, died in 2007; she is survived by two children and four grandchildren.

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