A rare pair: two Illinois senators set partisanship aside and formed a friendship across the aisle.

• Author: Knowles, Carol
• Position: PROFILES - Pamela Althoff and Toi Hutchinson - Interview

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They finish each other's sentences and laugh hysterically at each other's jokes. They may sound like an old married couple, but they're not. Illinois Senators Pamela Althoff (R) and Toi Hutchinson (D) are unlikely friends who share a deep and abiding bond.

They are different in age, party affiliation, race and geography. Althoff, a Republican, and Hutchinson, a Democrat, are more like sisters than partisan foes. Althoff, 58, hails from McHenry, a small, but rapidly growing town near the border with Wisconsin. Hutchinson, 38, lives in Olympia Fields, near the southern edge of Chicago and the state's population center.

In a crowded, noisy hallway just outside the Senate chamber, filled with lawmakers, staff members, lobbyists and a parade of tourists, the pair took some time out of their hectic day to talk about the secret to their rapport.

They both struggle to pinpoint when and how they became friends--they just know they are. It is a magical connection that keeps them both grounded and sane in what can be a rough-and-tumble world of Illinois politics.

"When I came in, I was all by myself. There was no class [elected at the same time]. There was no one I belonged to," Althoff recalls. "I recognized immediately when Toi came in that she wouldn't have that structure either, and there was an immediate connection."

The pair bonded further at the 2009 NCSL Legislative Summit in Philadelphia. The conference gave both women a chance to get to know one another outside the office, and they've attended many NCSL events since.

"We travel together. We go to conferences together," says Hutchinson, who chairs the Senate's Revenue Committee. "Pam helped me become acclimated to NCSL, and now I sit on the NCSL Budget and Revenue Committee so I can enhance my work here in the Capitol."

Althoff, a self-described collaborator who likes to network

and bring people together, is on the Senate Republican leadership team, serving as party whip. She's active in NCSL, sitting on a number of committees, including its Executive Committee.

The more they got to know one another, the more they realized just how much they have in common. They believe their differences are not nearly as important as what brings them together.

Similar Paths

Both women were raised Roman Catholic in the working class suburbs south of Chicago. Both are well-educated, and each served as a local government official before advancing to the Senate.

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