Former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar diagnosed with pancreatic cancer
Former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar announced in a statement Monday that he is battling pancreatic cancer.
In the statement, Edgar, 78, said the cancer has spread as he and his wife are "facing a new, significant challenge."
"Doctors at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago have determined I have pancreatic cancer that has spread. They and physicians at Mayo Clinic are coordinating on a treatment regimen that I am following initially in Arizona, where we spend the winter, and later in Springfield when we return. We do not underestimate this challenge, but we have confidence in the medical team helping us address it.
"Brenda and I remain hopeful, and we are grateful for the kindness of so many who have offered their prayers and support."
Edgar was born July 22, 1946, in Vinita, Oklahoma, but raised in Charleston, Illinois in the central part of the state. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from Eastern Illinois University.
Edgar, a lifelong Republican, first entered Illinois state politics as a young man in 1968. He first served as a legislative intern with the staff of Illinois Senate President Pro Tempore W. Russell Arrington, who was described on Edgar's website as his "first and most influential mentor."
Edgar ran unsuccessfully for Illinois House of representatives in 1974, but ran again and won in 1976. He was reelected in 1978.
Early in 1981, after Illinois Secretary of State Alan Dixon was elected to the U.S. Senate, Edgar was appointed to fill the vacancy. He was elected to full terms in that office in 1982 and 1986, and was credited with a crackdown on drunken driving in Illinois in that role.
When Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson decided not to run for a fifth term in 1990, Edgar ran for governor and won —defeating Illinois Attorney General Neil Hartigan, who ran on the Democratic side.
In his first term as governor, the Illinois State Library Heritage Project recalls, Edgar worked to shrink the size of state government — while also advocating for better prenatal care and early childhood education. He underwent quadruple bypass surgery late in his first term in 1994, but recovered and ran for reelection that year — easily defeating Illinois Comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch on the Democratic side.
Edgar remained popular in his second term with a strong economy and a growing state surplus, the library noted. He decided not to run for a third term in 1998 — Republican George Ryan won the race to become his successor.
Edgar has remained active in political and economic matters in Illinois in the more than 25 years since he left public office. In recent years, he has been a strong critic of President Trump — calling him "the biggest disaster we've ever had in American government" in an interview with Joe Donlon and Irika Sargent in March of last year as Illinois primary results came in. But Edgar also said President Trump had a good chance of winning a nonconsecutive second term the following November, which Mr. Trump went on to do.