Rod R. Blagojevich ( ; born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nickname "Blago", is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked in both the state and federal legislatures. He served as an Illinois state representative from 1993 to 1997, and the U.S. representative from Illinois's 5th district from 1997 to 2003.
Born and raised in Chicago, Blagojevich graduated from Northwestern University in 1979 and the Pepperdine University School of Law in 1983. After graduating, he became a criminal prosecutor at the Cook County State's Attorney Office during the late 1980s. Turning to elective politics, he represented the 33rd state house district in the Illinois House of Representatives where he supported mostly law and order policies. Forgoing a third two-year term in the state legislature, he represented for six years, winning re-election twice. He was elected governor in 2002, becoming the first Democrat to win the office since 1972. During his first term, the state increased education spending, launched a $5.3 billion rebuilding program for the Illinois Tollway, expanded health coverage, and enacted ethics and criminal-justice reforms. Blagojevich was reelected to a second term in 2006. His administration subsequently expanded preschool, signed a statewide smoking ban and renewable-energy standard, and continued efforts to broaden health coverage, while repeated budget disputes and changes to pension funding contributed to growing conflict with the General Assembly.
In December 2008, a federal investigation led to Blagojevich's arrest on corruption charges after he attempted to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama upon his election to the presidency. Shortly after his arrest, Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office by the Illinois General Assembly. He was also barred by the Illinois Senate's judgement from holding public office in the state again. In June 2011, Blagojevich was convicted in a federal criminal trial for his role in the corruption scandal, and was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison. President Donald Trump formally commuted his sentence in 2020, after Blagojevich had been imprisoned for nearly eight years, and fully pardoned him in 2025. Blagojevich had previously been a contestant on Trump's reality series The Celebrity Apprentice. Blagojevich subsequently supported Trump's 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns, and attended the 2024 Republican National Convention. He has since described himself as a "Trumpocrat".
To date, Blagojevich is the only Illinois governor to be successfully impeached and removed from office.
Early life Rod Blagojevich was born in Chicago, Illinois, the second of two sons of Serb immigrants from FPR Yugoslavia. His father, Rade B. Blagojevich, was an immigrant steel plant laborer from a village near Kragujevac, PR Serbia.Copley News Service. Three Democrats battle for party's nomination for governor. March 9, 2002. His mother, Mila, was a Herzegovinian Serb whose family was originally from Gacko, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina. His parents moved to Chicago in 1947. He grew up on the Northwest Side of Chicago. Blagojevich's older brother Rob worked as a fund-raiser for Blagojevich in his later political career."Burris Defends His Evolving Description of Talks" by Monica Davey, The New York Times, February 16, 2009, p. A9 NY edition. Retrieved 2-15-09. Blagojevich spent much of his childhood working odd jobs to help the family pay its bills. He was a shoeshiner and pizza delivery boy before working at a meatpacking plant. In order to afford university costs, Blagojevich worked for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System as a dishwasher.
Blagojevich does not have a middle name, but uses the initial "R" in honor of his deceased father. His nickname in the family was "Milorad", which some have mistakenly thought to be his name at birth.
Blagojevich graduated from Chicago's Foreman High School after transferring from Lane Technical High School. He played basketball in high school, and participated in two fights after training as a Golden Gloves boxer. After graduation, he enrolled at the University of Tampa.Profile on the website of biographer Carol Felsenthal. After two years, he transferred to Northwestern University in suburban Evanston, where he graduated in 1979 with a B.A. in history. He earned his J.D. from the Pepperdine University School of Law in 1983. He later said of the experience: "I went to law school at a place called Pepperdine in Malibu, California, overlooking the Pacific Ocean — a lot of surfing and movie stars and all the rest. I barely knew where that law library was."
Personal life Blagojevich is married to Patricia Mell, the daughter of former Chicago alderman Richard Mell. He is a Serbian Orthodox Christian.
Blagojevich voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and voted for his re-election in 1984.
Amateur boxing career Blagojevich had an amateur boxing career which spanned 13 months and included Golden Gloves competition. He trained under Jerry Marzillo in Chicago's Park District, and he fought some of his matches at the St. Andrews Gym on Chicago's North Side.
Early career
Prosecutor Blagojevich clerked for Chicago Alderman Edward Vrdolyak. Blagojevich then took a job as Cook County Assistant State's Attorney (assistant prosecutor) under State's Attorney Richard M. Daley, specializing in domestic abuse crimes and felony weapons cases.Governor-Elect Rod Blagojevich Cheesecake reprinted from campaign website: Rodforus.com. IADDA.org. Retrieved December 10, 2008. Archived from the original on September 26, 2006.
State and federal legislator In 1992, with the backing of his influential father-in-law, Blagojevich unseated 14-year incumbent Myron Kulas in the Democratic primary for the 33rd state house district, in the Illinois House of Representatives, which includes part of Chicago's North Side. As is the case with most state legislative elections in Chicago, this virtually assured him of election in November.'Illinois Blue Book 1995–1996,' Biographical Sketch of Rod R. Blagojevech, pg. 82 He drew on his experiences as a prosecutor to draft bills that he argued would strengthen the state's judicial system and reduce crime.
In 1996, Blagojevich did not seek reelection to the statehouse but instead ran for , based on the North Side. The district had long been represented by Dan Rostenkowski, who served as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Rostenkowski lost reelection in 1994 to Republican Michael Patrick Flanagan after pleading guilty to mail fraud. However, Flanagan was a conservative Republican representing a heavily Democratic district and was regarded as a heavy underdog. Blagojevich soundly defeated Flanagan by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, with support from his father-in-law. He was elected two more times, taking 74% against a nominal Republican challenger in 1998 and having only a Libertarian opponent in 2000.
Blagojevich was not known as a particularly active congressman. In the late 1990s, he traveled with Jesse Jackson to Belgrade in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to negotiate with President Slobodan Milošević for the release of American prisoners of war.
On October 10, 2002, Blagojevich was one of 81 House Democrats, and one of only two from Illinois (the other being David D. Phelps), who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq.Final Vote Results for Roll Call 455, House Joint Resolution 114, October 10, 2002,
Gubernatorial campaigns 2002 election
During 2002, Blagojevich campaigned for his party's nomination to become governor. Blagojevich won a close primary campaign against former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris and Chicago Public Schools Superintendent Paul Vallas, who ran well in the suburban collar counties of Chicago. Contemporary reports placed the result at about 37% for Blagojevich, 34% for Vallas and 29% for Burris. Blagojevich finished strongly in Southern Illinois, taking 55% there and 56% of the vote downstate, enough to overcome Vallas's advantage in suburban Cook County and the collar counties and win the primary by a thin margin. His campaign combined support from organized labor and downstate party organizations with months of television advertising; some of the advertisements emphasized his immigrant family background and appeal to working families.
During the primary, state Senator Barack Obama backed Burris but, at Burris's suggestion, supported Blagojevich after he won the primary, serving as an adviser for the general election. Future Obama senior adviser David Axelrod had previously advised Blagojevich, but grew disenchanted with him and ended the relationship before Blagojevich assembled the team that ran his gubernatorial campaign. According to Rahm Emanuel, he, Obama, Blagojevich's campaign co-chair David Wilhelm, and another Blagojevich staffer met regularly during the 2002 race to discuss campaign strategy. Wilhelm later said that Emanuel had overstated the group's role. After the primary, Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley joined the campaign as a chairman, while the Illinois AFL–CIO and the state Fraternal Order of Police backed the Blagojevich–Quinn ticket.
In the general election, Blagojevich defeated Republican Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan. Blagojevich's campaign was helped by his well-connected father-in-law, Chicago alderman Richard Mell. Ethics scandals had plagued the previous administration of Republican George Ryan (no relation to Jim Ryan), and Blagojevich's campaign focused on the theme of "ending business as usual" in state government. Polls prior to the election found that many Illinois voters were confused about the names of George Ryan and Jim Ryan, a fact which Blagojevich used to his advantage. An August Chicago Tribune poll summarized by Illinois Issues showed Blagojevich ahead by 17 percentage points; when respondents were explicitly reminded that Jim Ryan and George Ryan were different people, the lead narrowed to ten points. By the end of June, the campaigns had spent similar amounts over the preceding year, but Blagojevich retained about $3.8 million in cash compared with about $690,000 for Ryan. Blagojevich asked, "How can you replace one Ryan with another Ryan and call that change? You want change? Elect a guy named Blagojevich."
Blagojevich won with 52% of the vote over Jim Ryan. On election night, he said: "Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, Illinois has voted for change."
2006 reelection
From 2005 to 2006, Blagojevich served as federal liaison for the Democratic Governors Association. In March 2005, Blagojevich was elected chair of the Midwestern Governors Association by the other governors in the organization and served a one-year term.
Amid controversies surrounding his administration, Blagojevich's approval rating fell as low as 36 percent, with 56 percent disapproving near the end of 2005. By early 2006, five Republicans campaigned in the primary for the right to challenge him in the general election, with state treasurer Judy Baar Topinka eventually winning the nomination. Federal investigators were also examining hiring practices in the Blagojevich administration, and Eisendrath made the governor's credibility and allegations involving campaign contributors, state jobs and contracts central themes of his primary challenge.
Blagojevich formally began his 2006 reelection campaign for Governor of Illinois on February 19, 2006. He won the Democratic primary on March 21 with 70.84% of the vote against challenger Edwin Eisendrath, who received 29.16%. During the primary, Blagojevich declined an invitation from WTTW to appear jointly with Eisendrath for a televised discussion.