CHICAGO (AP) — Most of Illinois’ governors have lived in the Executive Mansion in Springfield at least part time. The first governor to call the 1855 manor home was Democratic former Gov. Joel Matteson, whose single term in office ended in 1857.
Here’s a look at the five most recent Illinois governors and their time in the mansion:
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GOV. PAT QUINN (2009-present): The Democrat lives at his West Side Chicago home and stays in Springfield when legislators are in session or when he’s en route elsewhere. Aides say he averages between 60 and 70 nights there annually. Initially, Quinn vowed to live there, but then was criticized for not doing it enough. At a campaign debate in 2010, he joked: “I have plenty of clothes there. Even my underwear are there.”
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ROD BLAGOJEVICH (2003-2009): The Democrat — whose daughters attended school in Chicago — lived full time at his North Side home in the city. He took heat for spending little time in Springfield, even avoiding one-night stays during legislative sessions. A 2007 St. Louis Post-Dispatch report found that taxpayers spent about $6,000 a day during roughly two weeks for his commutes as budget negotiations went past deadline.
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GEORGE RYAN (1999-2003): The Republican from Kankakee lived in the mansion part-time, even proposing to build a pool there with private funds. (It never got built.) His wife, Lura Lynn, wrote a book on the social scene at the mansion dating back to 1855, including mention of a dinner for Cuban diplomats that helped pave the way for Ryan’s 1999 visit to Cuba. “That dinner…,” she wrote, “helped change forever the relationship between the United States and Cuba.”
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JIM EDGAR (1991-1999): The Republican from Charleston lived in the mansion full time after selling his Springfield home from when he was secretary of state. Edgar also spent time at a cabin outside Springfield and kept an apartment in Chicago, where he spent about one or two nights a week. He recalls having to be careful at the mansion because of tour groups, particularly “on weekends when I wandered through the house and yelled at my dogs.”
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JAMES THOMPSON (1977-1991): The Republican spent much of his time at the mansion, where he was criticized for hosting lobster dinners, but he also maintained a Chicago home. In later years, his family made Chicago their full-time residence so his daughter could attend school there. Thompson said his favorite spot was the mansion library with its fireplace, which he called a “contemplative place… A lot of governors spent a lot of time in there.”
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Sources: AP interviews, the Illinois Executive Mansion’s curator and “At Home with Illinois Governors: A Social History of the Illinois Executive Mansion 1855-2003” by Lura Lynn Ryan.
