Connor resigns from Illinois Senate

State Sen. John Connor, who succeeded Pat McGuire in the 2020 election, announced his resignation from the Illinois Senate on Friday.

Connor’s resignation took effect noon Saturday.

“It is with great sadness that I must resign my position as state senator to care for an immediate family member over the next three months,” Connor said in a written statement on Friday.

”Being the state senator representing the 43rd District has been the best and most challenging position that I’ve ever held, and fighting on behalf of the residents of the 43rd District has been a privilege,” he said. “I want to thank my fellow legislators, both from the House and the Senate, for their partnership and friendship over the years. I want to thank everyone in the 43rd District who entrusted their representation in the State Senate to me. It has been a great honor.”

Connor’s website said the 43rd legislative district encompasses the following areas in Will County: Bolingbrook, Channahoin, Crest Hill, Elwood, Fairmont, Ingalls Park, Joliet, Lockport, Preston Heights, Rockdale, Romeville and Woodridge.

In 2021, the Illinois Senate unanimously passed Connor’s resolution that asked the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board to consider standardizing property tax appeals.

“People across the state are struggling to appeal their property taxes, leaving them stuck with unnecessary costs and sometimes little help,” Connor had said in a statement. “Different property tax appeals processes exist throughout Illinois, meaning some homeowners get different outcomes than others for the same issues.”

Also in 2021, the Illinois Senate passed bill, H.B. 3289, also sponsored by Connor, to extend homestead exemptions for people with disabilities, veterans with disabilities and older adults without having to reapply.

Connor also advocated for more consumer input on sales of public water systems to private companies and joined a watchdog organization in 2021 to that end. He said it’s difficult for local governments to regain control of their water systems once they sell them to private companies.

“I believe people who are on a public water system, both as taxpayers and water bill payers, deserve an individual voting say before structural change in their local government takes place,” Connor said in a 2021 Herald-News story.

Connor formerly served as the state representative for the Illinois House of Representative’s 85th District.

Connor’s website said he earned his bachlor of arts from the University of Notre Dame and Juris Doctor the University of Illinois College of Law. He served as a prosecutor for 20 years at the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Connor was born and raised in Joliet and currently lives in Lockport with his family.

In 2021, Connor announced he would run for the 12th Circuit judicial vacancy in Will County in the 2022 election.