Former Illinois Comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch Has Died

By Chuck Sudo in News on Mar 5, 2013 3:00PM

Dawn Clark Netsch, one of the grand dames of Illinois politics and the first woman to earn the Democratic nomination for governor, passed away Tuesday morning at the age of 86. Ms. Netsch died from complications related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. She revealed she had ALS in January.

Born in Cincinnati, Ms. Netsch graduated from Northwestern University in 1948 and, in 1952, was valedictorian of graduating class at the university's law school. She worked in private practice before joining the staff of Gov. Otto Kerner as a legal adviser in the 1960s. She was elected to the Ilinois State Senate in 1972 and was one of the primary authors of the state's current constitution.

She was elected the state's comptroller in 1990 and won an upset election for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1994, beating then-Attorney General Roland Burris by 10 points, largely on the strength of a campaign ad that showed Ms. Netsch playing pool, a reference to her being a "straight shooter."

And she was, through out her persona and professional life. Ms. Netsch was an advocate for fiscal responsibility and ethics in government, women's rights and civil rights — she was inducted to the Chicago Gay and Lesbian HAll of Fame in 1995 for her support of LGBT issues.

Ms. Netsch's husband, architect Walter Netsch, died in 2008.