Melissa Bean (born January 22, 1962) is an American politician from Barrington, Illinois who was recently elected a member of the United States House of Representatives. Bean is a moderate Democrat, representing Illinois' 8th Congressional district in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago (map). She lives with her husband and two children. She is president of a consulting firm whose clients include several Fortune 1000 companies.
In 2002, Bean ran against 33-year 8th district Republican incumbent Phil Crane, losing with 43%--a stunning total since she received almost no funding from the national party. In the 2004 campaign cycle, the Bean campaign raised almost as much money as the Crane campaign, mostly from individual donors, as opposed to Crane, most of whose money has come from political action committees. Bean's campaign gained traction with charges that Crane, once a leader of conservative forces in the House, had become a "do-nothing" Congressman, and by focusing attention on lobbyist-funded trips that he had taken. On November 2, 2004, Bean defeated Crane with 52% of the vote to become the first Democrat to represent the 8th District since its creation in 1935. The seat has been targeted by Republicans as vulnerable to takeover, due to Bean's freshman status; if she is reelected in 2006, her position will be in much less jeopardy.
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