Chapin Rose (born December 17, 1973) is a Republican member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 51st district since January 2013. The 51st district includes all or parts of McLean, DeWitt, Macon, Piatt, Shelby, Moultrie, Douglas, Champaign, Vermillion, and Edgar counties in Central Illinois. He previously served in the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 110th district from 2003 to 2013.

Illinois House of Representatives

After the 2001 deccenial reapportionment the 110th district was drawn without an incumbent legislator. The "new" district was composed of all of Coles, Douglas, and Piatt counties and portions of Champaign and Edgar counties. Rose won the 2002 Republican primary defeating Lynda Fishel, the former Mayor of Arcola; Ronald Hunt, the Mayor of Villa Grove; and Gerald Smith, a retired U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officer. In the staunchly Republican district, Rose defeated Democratic candidate John Hayden by a two-to-one margin. In 2009, Rose introduced legislative resolutions to overhaul the trustee selection process at the University of Illinois and demanded additional audits of IllinoisVENTURES after the state auditor found legal violations in a previous investigation.

Illinois Senate

During the 2011 decennial redistricting process, the 51st district was drawn without an incumbent while Rose was drawn into the same House district as fellow Republican Bill Mitchell. Rose opted to run for the "newly" created 51st Senate district while Mitchell ran for re-election in the House. In the 2012 election, Rose defeated Tom Pliura in the Republican primary and ran unopposed in the general election. Rose currently serves on the following committees: Appropriations (Minority Spokesperson); Approp Ed; Insurance; Judiciary; Transportation; Privacy.

Republican Party activism

Rose was an alternate to the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. During the 2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Rose endorsed the presidential campaign of Rudy Giuliani. Rose served as an Illinois Co-Chair for the 2016 presidential campaign of Senator Ted Cruz. In 2018, Rose defeated Robert Winchester in the election for State Central Committeeman from Illinois's 15th congressional district for the Illinois Republican Party.

Awards and honors

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Electoral history