Gwen Klingler is a former Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 member of the Illinois House of Representatives

Illinois House of Representatives

The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The state House of Representatives is made of 118 representatives elected from...

, representing the 100th district from 1995 until 2003. After re-districting occurred, Klingler's district included increased rural communities, outside of Springfield

Springfield, Illinois

Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...

, while the other state representative in her legislative district, Raymond Poe

Raymond Poe

Raymond "Ray" Poe is a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 99th district since 1994. He is currently the minority spokesman on the House Personnel and Pensions Committee....

, was given more of the city. Klingler was upset in the Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 primary by the more-conservative Rich Brauer

Rich Brauer

Rich Brauer is a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 100th district since 2003. A native of Petersburg, IL, Brauer upset incumbent Gwen Klingler in the 2002 Republican primary, after re-districting resulted in rural areas outside of Springfield being in his...

.

Before becoming a prominent member of the Illinois House, Klingler served as an alderman

Alderman

An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

 on the Springfield City Council. After leaving the House, Klingler ran for Springfield City Treasurer in 2003, but was defeated. In 2008, she was a candidate for Delegate

Delegate

A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization at a meeting or conference between organizations of the same level A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization (e.g., a government, a charity, an NGO, or a trade union) at a meeting or conference...

 to the Republican National Convention

Republican National Convention

The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...

, committed to presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani

Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....

, in Illinois' 19th congressional district

Illinois' 19th congressional district

The 19th Congressional District of Illinois encompasses a large stretch of rural Southern Illinois, part of Springfield and a portion of the "Metro-East" area . It has been represented by Republican John Shimkus since 2003.The district voted 61%–39% for George W. Bush in 2004...

.