Background
McSweeney was born in Park Ridge, Illinois and attended Barrington High School (Lake County, Illinois).
McSweeney was born in Park Ridge, Illinois and attended Barrington High School (Lake County, Illinois).
Duke University.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Duke University in 1987 and a master of business administration degree from the Fuqua School of Business in 1988. He has worked as an investment banker, financial consultant and currently as an investment specialist, working for Banc of America Securities until April 2005. He claims a Netto worth in the millions.
In 1998, McSweeney unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Republican Philosophy Crane in the Republican primary for the 8th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives elections, 1998.
McSweeney was the Republican nominee in Illinois"s 8th congressional district election, 2006. In 2012 McSweeney was elected to the Illinois State Legislature, representing the 52nd Illinois State House District.
In the general election, McSweeney defeated Beaubien"s widow, Dee Beaubien, who ran as an Independent. Number Democrat filed for the seat.
McSweeney is opposed to tax increases.
On April 15, 2013, he filed a House resolution opposing the progressive income tax McSweeney also led the charge to oppose extending Illinois" income tax hike beyond the 2015 sunset date. He considers himself a strong conservative in both the fiscal and social sense.
Republican
McSweeney is Lutheran. McSweeney also has led an effort to pass a property tax freeze in Illinois. In 2014, he was able to push through HB 983 that helps prevent local governments from issuing bonds for projects that could result in higher property taxes.
In the spring of 2015, McSweeney introduced a measure to freeze property taxes for one year in townships with less than 100,000 people.
The measure passed the House on April 23, 2015, and is currently being considered in the Senate. In response to widespread opposition to red light cameras, Republican
McSweeney sponsored HB 173 to ban red light cameras. The legislation included a compromise which exempted the City of Chicago.
House Bill 173 passed the Illinois House with 79 votes.
He won in the six-way primary but lost to Melissa Bean in the general election with 44% of the vote to Bean"s 51%. McSweeney won the Republican nomination over incumbent Kent Gaffney, who had been appointed to the seat after the death of incumbent Mark Beaubien. McSweeney won re-election in 2014 against Democrat Bill Downs with 70 percent of the vote.
