Cheri Bustos

Cheryl Lea Bustos (née Callahan; born October 17, 1961) is an American journalist, healthcare executive, and politician who served as the U.S. representative from Illinois's 17th congressional district from 2013 to 2023.

A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first woman elected to Congress from her district in the northwestern part of the state, anchored by the Illinois side of the Quad Cities and partially including Peoria and Rockford.

Bustos was criticized for voting for a $624,000 project to improve 10th Street in East Moline, which runs adjacent to her house; the Schilling campaign dubbed it the "Bustos Parkway".

Schilling's claim was called "reckless, irresponsible fiction" by the editorial board of the Quad-City Times.

Bustos graduated from Springfield High School in 1979.

She attended Illinois College, then transferred to the University of Maryland, College Park, from which she received a bachelor's degree in political science in 1983.

From 1983 to 1984, Bustos interned with the Illinois Senate Democrats.

She went on to receive a master's degree in journalism from the University of Illinois Springfield in 1985.

In 1985, Bustos moved to the Quad Cities to work as a night-shift police reporter for the Quad-City Times.

She worked there for 17 years, first as a reporter and then as an editor.

From 2001 to 2007, Bustos worked as senior director of corporate communications for Trinity Regional Health Systems.

Elected to the East Moline City Council in 2007, Bustos defeated Republican Party incumbent Bobby Schilling in the 2012 election and a 2014 rematch.

In 2021, Bustos and Senator Dick Durbin were the only Democrats in Illinois's congressional delegation who are not from the Chicago area.

On April 30, 2021, she announced that she would retire at the end of the 117th U.S. Congress.

In January 2023, the Washington, DC-based public affairs and lobbying firm Mercury Public Affairs announced that Bustos had joined the firm as a consultant.

Bustos was born in Springfield, Illinois, one of three children of Gene and Ann Callahan.

Her grandfather Joseph R. Callahan was a hog farmer and a state legislator.

"We had governors over to our house. We had lieutenant governors", Bustos has said.

Her father worked for The State Journal-Register, then served as assistant press secretary to Governor Samuel Shapiro, press secretary to Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon, and chief of staff to U.S. Senator Alan Dixon.

As a girl she babysat Dick Durbin's children.

Her mother worked as a teacher.

In 2007, Bustos ran for the East Moline City Council from that city's 4th Ward.

She won the Democratic primary with 45% of the vote, and won the general election unopposed.

Before being elected in 2007, Bustos served on East Moline's Citizen Advisory Committee and the East Moline Plan Commission.

From 2008 to 2011, she worked as vice president of corporate communications for Iowa Health System; in her last full year, she received overall compensation of $306,295.

In 2009, she received an Athena Business Women's Award.

In February 2010, Bustos secured state and federal money to purchase a $40,000 electronic welcome sign that was placed at the border of East Moline.

In August 2010, Bustos voted for water and sewer rate hikes.

In 2011, she was reelected unopposed.

In January 2011, she expressed interest in charging residents who do not recycle extra fees to lower the city's landfill costs.

In April 2011, Bustos voted for a budget that raised property taxes 4.9% and raised garbage collection fees, saying, "these decisions have been made thoughtfully and thoroughly and during the course of 17 open and public budget sessions."

She also supported water and sewage increases.

After being elected to a second term in May 2011, Bustos resigned in September to focus on her campaign for Congress.

Bustos won the Democratic primary on March 20, 2012, defeating Gaulrapp and businessman Greg Aguilar 54% to 26% to 20%.

In a July 2012 article, Bustos wrote that she was running for Congress in order to create good-paying jobs for middle-class Americans, including many "whose jobs are being shipped to China."

Bustos was endorsed by about two dozen unions active in the 17th congressional district, including the Illinois AFL–CIO, AFSCME and the United Auto Workers.

During the primary, she was endorsed by Dick Durbin.

Durbin asked State Senator Dave Koehler and Freeport Mayor George Gaulrapp to drop out of the race to clear the way for Bustos, a close family friend of his.

Gaulrapp reported that during a meeting with Durbin about withdrawing, Durbin said that Bustos had babysat for his family and was a close friend.

In 2019, Bustos became chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).