Bobby Lee Rush is an American politician, civil rights leader and pastor. Rush is the U.S. Representative for Illinois's 1st congressional district, serving in Congress for more than two decades; he was first elected in 1992 and took office in 1993. He has since won consecutive re-election. The district was located principally on the South Side of Chicago, with a population from 2003 to early 2013 that was 65% African-American, a higher proportion than any other congressional district in the nation. In 2011 the Illinois General Assembly redistricted this area following the 2010 census. While still minority-majority, since early 2013 it is 51.3% African American, 9.8% Latino and 2% Asian. It re-elected Rush in 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, Rush is the only politician to have defeated Barack Obama in an election, which he did in the 2000 Democratic primary for Illinois' 1st congressional district. A civil rights activist during the 1960s, Rush became radicalized for a period and founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers.
Also known as
Leader, Pastor
