Illinois veteran lawmaker Dawn Clark Netsch.

• Position: PEOPLE & POLITICS - Brief article - Obituary

ILLINOIS VETERAN LAWMAKER DAWN CLARK NETSCH (D), who loved cigarette holders, champagne, beer and the White Sox, died at 86 after battling Lou Gehrig's Disease. First elected in 1972, she served in the Senate for 18 years. She was the Democratic candidate for governor in 1994, beating out two men--the attorney general and the Cook County Board president. She lost in the general election to Republican Jim Edgar. "She was an original. But the most important thing is she was a trailblazer," said David Axlerod, director of the...