Jesse White (politician)

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For the actor, see Jesse White (actor).

Jesse White (born June 23, 1934) is a Democratic American politician. He is currently the 37th Secretary of State of Illinois, the first African-American to hold this position.

White was born in Alton, Illinois. He attended Alabama State University, where he played baseball and basketball, and he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1957. He served in the United States Army from 1957-1959. According to his biography (see below), in May 1995, White was inducted into the Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame. He was an all-city baseball and basketball player at Chicago's Waller High School (now Lincoln Park Academy) and was inducted into the Chicago Public League Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in June 1995. In 1999, he was inducted into the Alabama State University Sports Hall of Fame.

In 1959 White founded the Jesse White Tumbling Team and played professional baseball in the Chicago Cubs organization, though he never appeared with the major league club.

White was elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 1974 and served for 16 years. He was elected Recorder of Deeds of Cook County, Illinois in 1992 and re-elected in 1996. White was elected Secretary of State of Illinois in 1998 and re-elected in 2002.

[edit] Electoral history

2006 Race for Secretary of State of Illinois
- Jesse White (D) (inc.), 62%
- Dan Rutherford (R), 34%
2002 Race for Secretary of State of Illinois
- Jesse White (D) (inc.), 69%
- Kristine O'Rourke Cohn (R), 29%
1998 Race for Secretary of State of Illinois
- Jesse White (D), 57%
- Al Salvi (R), 43%

Preceded by: George Ryan	Secretary of State of Illinois 1999 – Present	Succeeded by: Incumbent

[edit] Notes

↑ White, Jesse. Interviewed by Wayne Hagin. St. Louis Cardinals vs. Chicago Cubs baseball game. KMOX AM, St. Louis. 6 September 2005.

[edit] External links

Biography on official Illinois Secretary of State website

This article about an Illinois politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

State Secretaries of State in the United States
AL: Nancy Worley AK: Loren Leman* AR: Charlie Daniels AZ: Jan Brewer CA: Bruce McPherson CO: Gigi Dennis CT: Susan Bysiewicz DE: Harriett Smith Windsor FL: Sue M. Cobb GA: Cathy Cox	HI: James Aiona* ID: Ben Ysursa IL: Jesse White IN: Todd Rokita IA: Chet Culver KS: Ron Thornburgh KY: Trey Grayson LA: Al Ater MD: Mary Kane MA: William Galvin	ME: Matthew Dunlap MI: Teri Lynn Land MN: Mary Kiffmeyer MS: Eric Clark MO: Robin Carnahan MT: Brad Johnson NE: John Gale NV: Dean Heller NH: Bill Gardner NJ: Nina Mitchell Wells	NM: Rebecca Vigil-Giron NY: Christopher Jacobs NC: Elaine Marshall ND: Al Jaeger OH: Ken Blackwell OK: M. Susan Savage OR: Bill Bradbury PA: Pedro Cortes RI: Matt Brown SC: Mark Hammond	SD: Chris Nelson TN: Riley Darnell TX: Roger Williams UT: Gary R. Herbert* VT: Deb Markowitz VA: Katherine Hanley WA: Sam Reed WV: Betty Ireland WI: Doug LaFollette WY: Joe Meyer
*Lt. Governor performing the typical functions of a Secretary of State