With the backing of his influential father-in-law, alderman Richard Mell, Blagojevich ran for a seat in the Illinois House of Representatives and won in 1992.<10> Most of his legislative accomplishments centered on crime and justice issues.
He took from his experiences as a prosecutor to pass laws that he argued would strengthen the state's judicial system and cut crime. He voted for Ronald Reagan for President in the 1980s.<11>
The Fifth Congressional District, in which Blagojevich lived, had long been represented by powerful Chicago Congressman Daniel Rostenkowski, who served as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. However, following his loss in 1994 (Rostenkowski pled guilty to mail fraud), the overwhelmingly Democratic district was represented by Republican Mike Flanagan.
In 1996, Blagojevich defeated Flanagan with support from his father-in-law, and served three terms in the United States House of Representatives. In Congress, Blagojevich continued to advocate what he called anti-crime measures, especially gun control legislation. In general, though, he was not known as a particularly active Congressman.<10> Blagojevich was thrust into international prominence in the late 1990s when he traveled with Jesse Jackson to Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia to negotiate with President Slobodan Milošević the release of American prisoners of war .<10>
On October 10, 2002, Rod Blagojevich was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq.<12> He was the only Democrat from Illinois to vote in favor of the Iraq War.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Blagojevich
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