Darin LaHood

Early life

A native of Peoria, Illinois, LaHood is the son of Kathy (Dunk) and Ray LaHood, the 16th United States secretary of transportation and before that a seven-term U.S. representative for the district his son now represents. His father is of Lebanese and German descent.

The younger LaHood is the eldest of four siblings, and went to the Academy of Our Lady/Spalding Institute. He graduated from Loras College in Iowa and received his Juris Doctor from John Marshall Law School.

Legal career

LaHood was a prosecutor in the Tazewell County state's attorney's office and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada in Las Vegas. Upon returning to Peoria in 2005, he took up private law practice; he was in the Peoria law firm of Miller, Hall & Triggs.

Early political career

LaHood ran for Peoria County state's attorney in 2008, losing to incumbent Kevin Lyons, 43,208 votes to 36,449. He was also involved in several other Republican campaigns, including Bill Brady's 2010 campaign for governor and Dan Rutherford's campaign for Illinois Treasurer.

LaHood was appointed to the Illinois Senate on February 27, 2011, at age 42. When appointed, LaHood announced he would run for election to a full term in 2012, which he won, running unopposed.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

;2015 special Main article: 2015 Illinois's 18th congressional district special election

On July 7, 2015, LaHood defeated Mike Flynn 69%–28%, in the Republican primary for Illinois's 18th congressional district, replacing Aaron Schock. He defeated Democratic nominee Rob Mellon in the September 10 special general election by a large margin. He was sworn in by House Speaker John Boehner on September 17, 2015.

;2016 In the November 8, 2016, general election, LaHood defeated Democratic nominee Junius Rodriguez, 250,506 votes (72.1%) to 96,770 (27.9%).

;2018 In the November 6, 2018, general election, LaHood defeated Rodriguez again, 195,927 votes (67.2%) to 95,486 (32.8%).

;2020 In the November 3, 2020, general election, LaHood defeated Democratic nominee George Petrilli, 261,840 votes (70.41%) to 110,039 (29.59%).

Tenure

LaHood has called himself a fiscal conservative focused on budget issues.

LaHood serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and the Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

On May 25, 2016, LaHood introduced legislation through the Science, Space, and Technology Committee that approved the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Modernization Act of 2016. The NITRD Program was originally authorized by the High Performance Computing Act of 1991. NITRD is the federal government's primary research portfolio on transformative high-end computing, high-speed networking, high capacity systems software, cybersecurity, and related advanced information technologies.

LaHood drew criticism from constituents for declining to hold an open town hall during the February 2017 recess. Constituents from across the 18th congressional district gathered in Bloomington Normal and Jacksonville to request a town hall to discuss a variety of issues, including access to health care, immigration laws, and freedom of the press. LaHood spoke to the demonstrators outside the Farm Bureau building in Peoria who had come to push for a town hall, saying: "We live in a democracy. People may not always agree with me and that's why I have to go before voters like I did in November. I was fortunate to receive 72 percent of the vote in that election. But this is part of the process." In 2025, with increasing pressure to host a town hall, Lahood insisted that he was accessible to constituents. Despite the reassurance, Lahood failed to attend a town hall hosted in his honor on March 26, 2025, in Peoria, IL.

LaHood is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership and the Republican Study Committee.

Legislation

LaHood voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. In a letter to the editor in the State Journal Register, he stated that the bill would help his constituents save money and make businesses more competitive globally, including State Farm Insurance, John Deere, and other local businesses.

During the 116th Congress (2019-2020), LaHood cosponsored the Great American Outdoors Act H.R.1957, establishing the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund for priority deferred maintenance projects on federal lands managed by the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Indian Education. In FY2021-FY2025, the fund will accrue up to $1.9 billion per year from revenues on federal lands and waters received from oil, gas, coal, or alternative or renewable energy development.

Committee assignments

For the 119th Congress:

• Committee on Ways and Means
  • Subcommittee on Trade
  • Subcommittee on Work and Welfare (Chair)
• Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
  • Subcommittee on Central Intelligence Agency (Vice Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on National Intelligence Enterprise
  • Subcommittee on National Security Agency and Cyber (Chairman)
• Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party

Caucus memberships

• Rare Disease Caucus
• United States–China Working Group

Political positions

Environment

LaHood believes that humans "play a role" regarding climate change and that there is "no doubt about that." Despite this, he has a 0% lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters, indicating consistent votes against environmental causes.

Health care

LaHood opposes "able-bodied working men" from accessing Medicaid. He supports full repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Of single-payer healthcare, LaHood has said he would consider a bill if it was "fiscally sound" and benefited his constituents.

Net neutrality

LaHood opposes net neutrality and believes that revoking it has "zero effect" on privacy or data collection.

Economic issues

LaHood supports tax reform, specifically of corporate loopholes. In April 2017, he said he would not vote for a tax cut bill unless it was "revenue neutral" so it would not add to the deficit. However, in December, LaHood voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will add $1.414 trillion to the national debt. In 2025, LaHood supported the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, legislation that would add $3.4 trillion to the national deficit.

LaHood was among the 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.

Immigration

LaHood supports immigration reform, including shortening the time that it takes for people to legally enter the United States. He is "100 percent supportive" of increasing the number of people allowed to immigrate to the U.S.

Donald Trump

In 2017, LaHood said that President Donald Trump should release his tax returns and would vote in favor of requiring such disclosure if a bill mandating it was presented to the House. Of Trump's visits to Mar-a-Lago, LaHood said that "more business should be conducted in the White House than in Florida." He supported the Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

In December 2020, LaHood was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.

On January 6, 2021, a mob of Trump supporters entered the U.S. Capitol Building while Congress was debating the Electoral College certification. LaHood and his staff were among those kept under police lockdown for over four hours. That evening, LaHood voted to certify Biden as the 46th President-elect.

Electoral history

Personal life

LaHood lives in Dunlap, a suburb of Peoria, with his wife Kristen; they married in 2000. They have three children.

References

References

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