Loleta A. Didrickson is the former Illinois Comptroller, and the highest ranking female 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...

 elected official in that state's history.

Didrickson was elected Comptroller in 1994, succeeding Democrat Dawn Clark Netsch

Dawn Clark Netsch

Dawn Clark Netsch is an Illinois professor of law and politician. A member of the Democratic Party in the United States, she served in the Illinois State Senate, as Illinois Comptroller and in 1994 was the first woman to be nominated by a major political party to run for Governor of...

, who was the Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 nominee for Governor. Her Democratic opponent was State Senator Earlean Collins

Earlean Collins

Earlean Collins is Commissioner for the 1st district of Cook County, Illinois, on the west side of Chicago.- Early life :Collins is a graduate of the University of Illinois.- Public service :...

. Before being elected Comptroller, Didrickson served for three years, under Governor Jim Edgar

Jim Edgar

James Edgar is an American politician who was the 38th Governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999 and Illinois Secretary of State from 1981 to 1991. As a moderate Republican in a largely blue-leaning state, Edgar was a popular and successful governor, leaving office with high approval ratings...

, as the Director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security, before which she served eight years in 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...

.

In 1998, Didrickson was a candidate for United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

, and was strongly supported in this bid by former Governor Edgar and former Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole

Bob Dole

Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...

, the latter serving as her national campaign chairman. In a heated primary

Primary election

A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....

, however, she was defeated by a more-conservative candidate, State Senator Peter Fitzgerald, who went on that year to defeat incumbent U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun. Didrickson was succeeded as Comptroller by Democrat Dan Hynes.