Over the years, Rush has also experienced health problems and underwent surgery in in 2008 to have a cancerous tumor in his salivary gland removed. After the death, Rush focused on gun-control measures. Just before the primary, one of Rush's son died from gunfire when two men attempted a holdup. Rush faced Obama in the 2000 Democratic primary and won by a nearly 2-1 ratio.

The former Black Panther has represented the South Side of Chicago in Congress since 1993. He also made one unsuccessful bid for mayor against then-Mayor Richard M. Bobby Rush announced on Tuesday that he is leaving Congress. Years later, he decided he could do more from within the establishment and was elected as a Chicago alderman, serving eight years. He was arrested in 1969 and convicted on a weapons charge. The trajectory of Rush's political career has been unusual.īorn in Georgia, Rush served in the Army as a teenager, became involved in the civil rights movement and later co-founded the Illinois Black Panther Party. Till was a Black Chicago teen whose lynching in 1955 galvanized the civil rights movement. He's pushed legislation, named after Emmett Till, designating lynching as a hate crime under federal law. Mark Kirk as a simplistic 'white boy' solution to a complex problem. He also raised eyebrows with some of his sharper comments, like when he dismissed an anti-violence plan by former Illinois Republican Sen. He was in the headlines in 2012 for wearing a hooded sweat shirt on the House floor after the death of teenager Trayvon Martin, a move that earned him a reprimand for violating rules of wearing hats in the chamber. He was arrested in 2004 for blocking the driveway of Sudan's embassy in 2004 during a 'protest demanding an end to genocide' in that country. Throughout his congressional career, Rush hasn't avoided direct action. Early life, education, and activism Formal education Politics. I will be working hand in hand with someone who will replace me.' On January 3, 2022, Rush announced that he was retiring from Congress.

I'm returning to my passion,' he says in the video. Actually, I'm not retiring, I'm returning home. Rush, an ordained minister who preaches on the South Side, said he would remain in the public eye and continue his ministry after leaving Congress. He holds the distinction of being the only politician to win a race against Barack Obama, easily defeating the then-state senator in a 2000 congressional primary. The Democrat, known for anti-violence activism and racial equity work, was first elected to Congress in 1992.

Bobby rush retiring