{{Short description|American politician}} '''Robert C. Winchester''' is an American politician from Illinois. An active member of the Republican Party, he served as a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1975 until 1985.
==Early life== Winchester was born April 21, 1945, in Paducah, Kentucky. He was raised in Johnson and Pulaski counties in downstate Illinois.<ref name="Illinois Blue Book 1974-75"/> When he was 11, his father died in what was ruled a suicide, though later research by Maureen Hughes has indicated it could have been a murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Musgrave|first=Jon|title=Book probes death of 'Shot' Winchester in Pulaski County|date=August 30, 2012|newspaper=Harrisburg Register|accessdate=October 15, 2019|url=http://www.dailyregister.com/article/20120824/news/701235602/}}</ref> He graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He then took jobs with the Illinois Department of Corrections and Illinois Department of Procurement.<ref name="Illinois Blue Book 1974-75">{{cite book|editor-last=Howlett|editor-first=Michael|chapter=The Seventy-ninth General Assembly|title=Illinois Blue Book 1975-1976|year=1975|page=189|url=http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/ref/collection/bb/id/36716}}</ref>
==Illinois House of Representatives== He was first elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1974.<ref name="Illinois Blue Book 1974-75"/> In 1984, Winchester ran for the Illinois Senate, but lost to Democratic candidate Glenn Poshard.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Franklin|first1=Tim|last2=Egler|first2=Daniel|last3=Silverman|first3=Lauren|title=Election '84: GOP gains just enough in state Senate to flex its muscles|date=November 8, 1984|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|page=13}}</ref>
==Post-legislative career== In 1988, Winchester ran for his old seat against Democratic incumbent David D. Phelps and lost.<ref>{{cite news|title=For Election to the Illinois House|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=October 28, 1988|accessdate=October 15, 2019|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-10-28-8802110240-story.html}}</ref> In 1989, Winchester was appointed the head of the Office of Resource Marketing and Education in the Illinois Department of Conservation with responsibilities for special events and marketing.<ref>{{cite web|editor-last=Gherardini|editor-first=Caroline |title=Conservation's public information, marketing programs under new direction|page=62|work=Illinois Issues|volume=15|number=8|publisher=Sangamon State University|location=Springfield, Illinois|issn=0738-9663|accessdate=October 15, 2019|url=https://www.lib.niu.edu/1989/ii890858.html}}</ref> In 1999, George Ryan hired Winchester to serve as his Deputy Chief of Staff overseeing the newly created ''Office of Southern Illinois''.<ref>{{cite web|editor-last=Whelpley|editor-first=Rodd|title=Shifts at the Top|work=Illinois Issues|volume=25|number=5|page=36|publisher=Sangamon State University|location=Springfield, Illinois|issn=0738-9663|accessdate=October 15, 2019|url=https://www.lib.niu.edu/1999/ii990536.html}}</ref> In the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, Winchester ran to be elected as a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention pledged to the presidential campaign of Florida Senator Marco Rubio.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kacich|first=Tom|title=Nobody like Ike in today's GOP|date=November 29, 2015|newspaper=The News-Gazette|accessdate=October 15, 2019|url=https://www.news-gazette.com/news/tom-kacich-nobody-like-ike-in-today-s-gop/article_6d7fda71-0bde-5249-af4c-aed9f417a6ec.html}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winchester, Robert}} Category:1945 births Category:Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Category:Living people Category:Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumni Category:Politicians from Paducah, Kentucky Category:20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly