Bob Dold

Robert James Dold Jr. (born June 23, 1969) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for IL's 10th congressional district from 2011 to 2013 and again from 2015 to 2017.

He is a member of the Republican Party.

Prior to his election, Dold ran his family-owned business, Rose Pest Solutions.

Dold won the rematch by slightly more than 4,800 votes and took office at the start of the 114th Congress.

Seals, a business consultant, had been the nominee for this seat in 2006 and 2008, losing both times to Kirk.

Dold was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune, whose editorial page editor, R. Bruce Dold, is not related to Bob Dold.

The US Chamber of Commerce and the Electrical Contractors' Association also endorsed him.

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist campaigned for Dold.

After reporting nearly equal fund-raising for the second quarter, Dold's fundraising outpaced Seals' in the third quarter, and he began the final quarter with more cash on hand.

In 2010, Dold defeated Democratic Party nominee Dan Seals to replace Republican incumbent Mark Kirk in the U.S. House of Representatives.

He won the primary election on February 2, 2010, and faced Democrat Dan Seals in the general election.

At the request of the Federal Election Commission, the Dold campaign amended its second quarter filing in September 2010 to reflect debts and expenditures that had been incurred in the second quarter but had not yet been billed when the filing period ended.

Dold won the general election with 51% of the vote to Seals' 49%.

Dold was narrowly defeated by Democrat Brad Schneider in 2012, but regained the seat in 2014, defeating Schneider in a rematch.

The Cook Political Report named Dold one of the top 10 Republicans most vulnerable to redistricting in 2012; the 10th was already a Democratic-leaning district, and became even more so due to redistricting.

The endorsement of Senator Mark Kirk, who was popular in the district at the time, was expected to help Dold.

Dold had a strong cash-on-hand advantage over his opponent Brad Schneider.

Dold earned the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune and Daily Herald.

Schneider defeated Dold 51%–49%, a difference of just 3,000 votes.

On May 8, 2013, Dold announced in an e-mail to supporters that he would run for his old seat in 2014.

The National Republican Congressional Committee actively recruited him to run again.

The race was expected to be one of the most competitive in the country, and was ranked by Roll Call as the seventh most likely flip for 2014 House rematches.

Billionaire and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg spent nearly $2 million to help Dold.

He was endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT civil rights organization, despite the organization having endorsed Schneider in 2014.

Dold was also endorsed by The Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Sun-Times.

He was again defeated by Schneider in 2016 in a third contest between the two.

Dold was born in Evanston, Illinois, the son of Judith Gail (née Kelley) and Robert James Dold.

His ancestry includes German, Swedish, Irish, Scottish, and English.

He graduated from New Trier High School where he was quarterback of the football team and captain of the wrestling and lacrosse teams.

He earned a BA degree from Denison University where he served as President of the Campus Governance Association and was a member of Beta Theta Pi.

Dold obtained a JD degree from Indiana University where his classmates selected him to give the commencement address, and an MBA degree from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

Dold was an intern in the administration of Vice President Dan Quayle.

He also clerked for a New York State Judge and served as an investigative counsel for the Republican-led House Government Reform and Oversight Committee.

Dold ran for the open seat, as five-term incumbent Mark Kirk was retiring to run for the U.S. Senate.

In his first radio ad of the general election campaign, Dold described himself as a small business owner, fiscal conservative, and social moderate.

Dold ran for re-election in 2016, facing a rematch with Brad Schneider in the general election.

He refused to endorse Republican nominee Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and said he would instead write in an alternative candidate's name.

In the general election, Dold lost to Schneider by 5 percentage points, as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton won the district by nearly 30.

Dold is a moderate Republican who had a centrist voting record in Congress.

The non-partisan organization GovTrack has ranked Dold in the political center of Congress.