Tom Morrison (politician)

Thomas R. "Tom" Morrison[1] is a Republican member of the Illinois General Assembly, 54th district, first elected in November 2010.

For the Guam politician, see Tommy Morrison (politician).
Tom Morrison
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives
from the 54th district
Assumed office
January 12, 2011 (2011-January-12)
Preceded bySuzanne Bassi
Personal details
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Bethany
Childrentwo
ResidencePalatine, Illinois
Alma materHillsdale College

Morrison defeated incumbent State Representative Suzanne Bassi in the Republican primary on February 2, 2010, receiving 54.3% of the vote, to Bassi's 45.7%.[2] Morrison went on to defeat Democrat Matt Flamm in the general election, receiving 61.9% of the vote, to Flamm's 38.1%.[3] Morrison defeated Richard Rudd in 2012 with 59.08 % of the vote.[4] He won the 2014 election against Laddi Singh with 65.92% of the vote,[5] and in 2016, he ran unopposed. In 2018, he defeated Maggie Trevor by only 43 votes, receiving 50.05% of votes cast.[6][7]

Morrison is a graduate of Hillsdale College. He has been a radio news reporter and anchor in Iowa,[8] a 5th-grade teacher at Christian Liberty Academy of Arlington Heights, which his parents helped found in 1969, for six years, and a ServPro franchise owner of Palatine/Rolling Meadows and Elk Grove/Itasca/Roselle.[9]

Rep. Morrison has been a strong proponent of pension reform.[10] He led the movement to end Illinois taxpayer-funded legislative pensions.[11]

Rep. Morrison denies climate science and was chosen to speak before a climate-change-denying[12][13][14][15] organization (The Heartland Institute). During his speech, he said, "The school textbooks have done a masterful job of convincing most Americans that climate change is happening."[16]

Morrison was one of only five Illinois representatives to vote against the Illinois Right to Vote Amendment on its passage in the Illinois House of Representatives.[17] The bill subsequently was passed unanimously in the Illinois Senate,[18] and was approved as a constitutional amendment by the voters of Illinois.[19][20]

Rep. Morrison is also known as a hardliner on social issues. In 2016, he authored legislation denying young transgender children access to the restroom of their identity.[21] He opposes abortion in all circumstances, including rape and incest,[22] voted No on an equal pay bill,[23] and also voted no on the ERA.[24] Previously, he attempted to Constitutionally ban same-sex marriage in Illinois.[25] Upon being re-elected in 2018, Rep. Morrison authored legislation to punish doctors for providing transition healthcare to transgender children experiencing gender dysphoria. This legislation was condemned by Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago[26][27] Rep. Morrison has an A rating from the NRA.[28][29]

Electoral history
Illinois 54th State House District Republican Primary, 2010[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Thomas R. "Tom" Morrison 5,409 54.29
Republican Suzanne "Suzie" Bassi (incumbent) 4,554 45.71
Total votes 9,963 100.0
Illinois 54th State House District General Election, 2010[31]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Thomas R. "Tom" Morrison 19,521 61.90
Democratic Matt Flamm 12,013 38.10
Total votes 31,534 100.0
Illinois 54th State House District General Election, 2012[32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Morrison (incumbent) 27,123 59.08
Democratic Richard S. Rudd 18,786 40.92
Total votes 45,909 100.0
Illinois 54th State House District General Election, 2014[33]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Morrison (incumbent) 21,973 65.92
Democratic Laddi K. Singh 11,360 34.08
Total votes 33,333 100.0
Illinois 54th State House District General Election, 2016[34]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Morrison (incumbent) 38,846 100.0
Total votes 38,846 100.0
Illinois 54th State House District General Election, 2018[35]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Morrison (incumbent) 22,490 50.05
Democratic Maggie Trevor 22,447 49.95
Total votes 44,937 100.0

References
  1. Tom Morrison's Biography Archived 2014-11-29 at the Wayback Machine. Project Vote Smart. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  2. Election Results: General Primary - 2/2/2010, Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  3. Election Results: General Election - 11/2/2010, Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  4. "Illinois State Board of Elections". Elections.il.gov.
  7. "Thomas R. Morrison". Ballotpedia. Archived from the original on 2018-11-09. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
  8. Hamid, Sama. "Tom Morrison Archived 2017-03-18 at the Wayback Machine", NBC 5 Chicago, September 28, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  9. "Tom Morrison". LinkedIn. Archived from the original on 2011-01-26. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-08-01. Retrieved 2018-08-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. Andrzejewski, Adam. "The 'Pension Palace' for Illinois Lawmakers 2017". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2018-08-01. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  12. Press, Associated (May 26, 2018). "Senior EPA officials collaborated with climate change denial group, emails show". Archived from the original on December 29, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2020 – via www.theguardian.com.
  13. "Commentary: Unsolicited and Unwelcome, Climate Denial Comes to Schools". www.pbs.org. Archived from the original on 2019-12-29. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
  14. November 2018, Seal Press in. "Perspective | How the fossil fuel industry got the media to think climate change was debatable". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2019-11-01. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
  15. "The EPA is openly promoting a climate denial think tank". The New Republic. March 9, 2018. Archived from the original on December 29, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  16. "Anniversary Benefit: Tom Morrison" – via www.youtube.com.
  17. "STATE OF ILLINOIS NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE ROLL CALL HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT 52 CON AMEND-VOTER DISCRIMINATION THIRD READING 3/4 VOTE REQUIRED PASSED" (PDF). Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  18. "State of Illinois 98th General Assembly Senate Vote House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment No. 52 THIRD READING" (PDF). Illinois General Assembly. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  19. "Illinois Constitution - Amendments Proposed". www.ilga.gov. Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  20. "Illinois Right to Vote Amendment (2014)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  21. "Transgender Students in Illinois Are Under Attack". Equalityillinois.us. Archived from the original on 2019-04-12. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
  22. "Illinois Values Voters Forum: Rep. Joe Walsh, State Rep. Morrison, More". Publiusforum.com. December 4, 2011. Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  23. "The Voter's Self Defense System". Votesmart.org. Archived from the original on 2019-05-23. Retrieved 2014-11-15.
  24. "STATE OF ILLINOIS ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY : HOUSE ROLL CALL : SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT 4" (PDF). Ilga.gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  25. "Two Lawmakers Step Up to Defend Natural Marriage". Illinoisfamily.org. July 24, 2012. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  26. "Illinois lawmaker introduces bill to punish doctors for providing health care to trans people". Archived from the original on 2020-01-19. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
  27. Smith, Gwendolyn (March 19, 2019). "Proposed Illinois law would make it illegal for doctors to treat transgender youth". LGBTQ Nation. Archived from the original on May 10, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  28. https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/116651/tom-morrison
  29. https://everytown.org/nra-grades-archive/
  30. "Election Results 2010 GENERAL PRIMARY". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  31. "Election Results 2010 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  32. "Election Results 2012 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  33. "Election Results 2014 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  34. "Election Results 2016 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  35. "Election Results 2018 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
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