Deborah "Deb" O'Keefe Conroy has been the Illinois state representative for the 46th district since her term began in 2013. The 46th district includes all or parts of Addison, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Elmhurst, Glendale Heights, Oakbrook Terrace, and Villa Park. She is also a former member of the Elmhurst Community Unit District 205 School Board and served on the board of the Elmhurst Children's Assistance Foundation, a local non-profit that provides financial assistance to families with disabled or medically burdened children.
Electoral career
Deb Conroy first ran to be a state representative in 2010 as the Democratic candidate for District 46 of the Illinois House of Representatives. She lost to Dennis Reboletti, the Republican candidate, gaining 42% of the vote to his 58%. Conroy then lost re-election to her seat on the Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 School Board. Conroy ran again in 2012 for the District 46 of the Illinois House of Representatives seat after the district was remapped. In the primary, Conroy ran unopposed as the Democratic nominee, and later faced Republican nominee, Daniel J. Kordik. Conroy won in the general election with 58% of the vote, leaving Kordik with 42%. In 2014, Conroy ran for a second term. During the primary, Conroy ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, and Heidi Holan running unopposed in the Republican primary. Conroy defeated Holan in the general election with 52.5% of the vote, and Holan with 47.5%. Similarly, Conroy and Holan ran unopposed again in the 2016 primaries for the seat. Conroy beat Holan, by an even larger margin than in 2014, winning 59% of the vote, her opponent taking 41% of the vote.
State representative
Committees
Deb Conroy currently serves on seven House committees and one House subcommittee: Construction Industry & Code Enforcement; Elementary Secondary Education: School Curriculum & Policies; Government Consolidation & Modernization; Higher Education; Mental Health; and Police & First Responders, along with the Justice System Subcommittee. On February 3, 2017, Conroy was announced as the chairperson for the Mental Health Committee, and the vice-chairperson of the Committees on Construction Industry and Code Enforcement; and Government Consolidation and Modernization. Conroy reports that she has held her own "Mental Health Advisory Committee" in her district for four years. During her previous terms as a state representative, she has served as a member of the Counties and Townships Committee, Health Care Availability Access Committee, Juvenile Justice and System Involved Committee, and is the former vice-chairperson of the Youth and Young Adults Committee. In 2018, Democrat J.B. Pritzker appointed Conroy a member of the gubernatorial transition's Healthy Children and Families Committee.
Voting History
On April 27, 2017, HB 3502 introduced by Chief Sponsor, Deb Conroy, passed with unanimous support. This bill's purpose was to set up an advisory council with the goals of developing recommendations and an action plan to address the barriers to early and regular screening and identification of mental health conditions in children, adolescents and young adults in Illinois. Throughout her career as state representative, Deb Conroy has showed her support for same-sex marriage and enforcement of equality laws by co-sponsoring the SB 10 and the SJRCA 75, which were both passed. Conroy has also voted in favor of the HB 217, which prohibits sexual orientation conversion therapy for minors and was executively signed into law August 20, 2015.
