Shane Cultra
Birth datec. 1951[1]
Birth placeOnarga, Illinois
State senateIllinois
District53rd
Term startJanuary 10, 2011
Term endJanuary 9, 2013
PredecessorDan Rutherford
SuccessorJason Barickman
State house 2Illinois
District 2105th
Term start 2January 11, 2003
Term end 2January 9, 2011
Predecessor 2William Black (redistricted)
Successor 2Russell Geisler
PartyRepublican
SpousePeggy
Alma materMichigan State University
ProfessionNursery owner

Shane Cultra (born c. 1951) is an American politician and former Republican member of the Illinois General Assembly.

Early life and career

Cultra was born in Onarga, Illinois. He graduated from Michigan State University with an agricultural technology degree in landscape & nursery management. He served on the Iroquois County Board for fourteen years including two years as chairman of the board. Cultra, and his wife Virginia, have four children.[2]

Illinois General Assembly

In 2002, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives from the 105th district.[2] The 105th district, as drawn at the time, included parts of Champaign, Ford, Iroquois Livingston, and McLean counties in east-central Illinois.[3]

Cultra was selected by local party leaders in late 2010 to replace Dan Rutherford, who had been elected Illinois Treasurer.[4]

Cultra resigned from the Illinois House effective midnight January 9, 2011 and was succeeded by his longtime legislative aide Russell Geisler for a single day. On January 10, 2011, Jason Barickman, the Chair of the Champaign County Republicans, was appointed to succeed Geisler for the remainder of the 96th General Assembly and to serve during the 97th General Assembly.[5][6]

During the 2011 decennial redistricting, the 53rd district was redrawn to include portions of Bloomington and Normal while losing Tazewell County.[7][8] In the 2012 Republican primary, Barickman opted to run for the Illinois Senate against Shane Cultra. Barickman defeated Cultra with 19,713 votes to Cultra's 11,861 votes.[9]

Post-legislative career

In 2016, Lyle Behrends of Ashkum succeeded Cultra as Chair of the Iroquois County Republican Party.[10] That same year, Mike Tilstra, the Mayor of Onarga, chose to step down as Mayor. Cultra ran unopposed in the 2017 election.[11] In the 2021 election, Cultra defeated Sarah Barnett 99 votes to 89 votes (52.66% to 47.34%).[12]

On March 7, 2022, Cultra filed with the Illinois Board of Elections to run for the United States House of Representatives from Illinois's 2nd congressional district in the 2022 Republican primary.[13] He finished second of three candidates in the June 28th primary, losing to former Iroquois County Board member Thomas Lynch.[14]

References

  1. ^ Hansen, Karen (March 3, 1994). "Iroqouis County voters pick sheriff, treasuer". The Pantagraph. p. A5.
  2. ^ White, Jesse (ed.). "Legislative Branch". Illinois Blue Book 2003–2004. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois Secretary of State. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  3. ^ Veeneman, Drew (ed.) (June 1, 2012). "House District 105 as Prepared by the NIU Center for Governmental Studies". precinctmaps.com. Archived November 3, 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ McDonald, Karen (November 22, 2010). "GOP chooses Rutherford replacement". Peoria Journal Star. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
  5. ^ Kacich, Tom (December 29, 2010). "Plans approved for 105th District, including legislator for one day". The News-Gazette. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  6. ^ Mapes, Tim (ed.) (January 6, 2011). "161st Legislative Day of the 96th General Assembly". Journal of the Illinois House of Representatives. pp. 5–8. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  7. ^ Veeneman, Drew (ed.) (June 1, 2012). "Senate District 53 Map prepared by the NIU Center for Governmental Studies". precinctmaps.com. Archived November 3, 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ^ Veeneman, Drew (June 1, 2012). "53rd Senate District". Precinctmaps. Archived November 3, 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ^ Smucker, Luke (March 21, 2012). "Barickman gains 53rd Senate seat". Pontiac Daily Leader. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  10. ^ "Bennett re-elected to two-year term as Ford County GOP chairman". Ford County Record. April 20, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  11. ^ Staff Report (December 21, 2016). "Tilstra to step aside from Onarga mayor's office, Shane Cultra will seek job". 94.1 WGFA. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  12. ^ "Election Summary Report Iroquois County, IL Consolidated Election April 6,2021 Summary For Jurisdiction Wide, All Counters, All Races Unofficial Results". Iroquois County. April 6, 2021. p. 6. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  13. ^ Pfingsten, Patrick (March 7, 2022). "Tracking Monday Candidate Filings". The Illinoize. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  14. ^ Provost, Lee (July 1, 2022). "Lynch claims 2nd district in Republican primary". Daily Journal. Archived July 1, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 5, 2022.