Darin McKay LaHood is a Republican politician from Peoria, Illinois, who is the United States Representative for Illinois"s 18th congressional district.
Background
LaHood is the son of Ray LaHood, the former United States Secretary of Transportation and before then the seven term congressman from the district his son currently represents. While his father was a moderate Republican, LaHood is considered to be more conservative.
Education
He graduated from Loras College in Iowa, and later went on to receive his Juris Doctor from John Marshall Law School.
Career
He has called himself a fiscal conservative focused on budget issues. LaHood was born in Peoria, Illinois to Ray and Kathy LaHood, as the eldest of four siblings, and went to Academy of Our Lady/Spalding Institute there. LaHood was a prosecutor in the Tazewell County state"s attorney"s office and the United States Attorney" General’ s Office for the District of Nevada in Las Vegas.
On returning to Peoria in 2005, he took up private law practice.
As of 2011 he is in the Peoria law firm of Miller, Hall & Triggs. He ran for Peoria County state"s attorney in 2008, losing to twenty-year incumbent Kevin Lyons by a margin of 43,208 to 36,449.
He has also been involved in several other Republican campaigns, including Bill Brady"s 2010 campaign for governor and Dan Rutherford"s campaign for Illinois Treasurer. He was appointed to the Illinois Senate on February 27, 2011, at the age of 42, and took office March 1, the day after Dale Risinger retired.
On July 7, 2015, LaHood defeated Mike Flynn 69%-28% in the Grand Old Party Primary to become the Republican candidate for Illinois"s 18th congressional district, replacing Aaron Schock.
He faced the Democratic candidate Rob Mellon in the September 10 special general election, easily defeating him with a large percentage of the vote, making him the Member-elect of the United States House of Representatives for Illinois"s 18th congressional district. He was sworn in by House Speaker John Boehner on September 17, 2015.
Membership
Prior to being elected to Congress, he was a member of the Illinois Senate representing the seven-county 37th legislative district.