Hastings ends bid to be next Illinois Secretary of State

State Sen. Michael Hastings said last week he is ending his campaign to be the next Secretary of State of Illinois.

Hastings, D-Frankfort, announced his bid to seek the statewide office in March after longtime secretary of state Jesse White said he would not seek reelection in 2022.

“For everyone who supported my campaign these past four months – many of whom have supported me for longer – there are no words to do justice to the sincere depths of my appreciation and gratitude,” Hastings said in a Facebook post. “Know that I do not make this decision lightly, nor do I make it without each of you, and all of your time and sacrifice on my behalf, in the forefront of my mind.”

Hastings has represented the 19th Illinois Senate District, which includes parts of Joliet, New Lenox, Mokena, Frankfort, Tinley Park, Homer Glen, Lockport and extends into Cook County, since 2013.

“My heart and home is the 19th District, the community where I have spent most of my life,” he said in the post. “I was raised there, and it is where I am raising my family today. At this moment in time, it is where I belong and where I am needed most.”

Hastings is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point where he played on the Army football team. After graduation, he deployed to fight in Iraq, where he coordinated air, ground and security movements, according to his Senate biography.

After 10 years, he was honorably discharged and went to work in the private sector. He earned a master’s in business administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a law degree from the John Marshall Law School.