10 Things You Didn't Know About Mark Kirk

By Jessica Rettig

February 12, 2010 RSS Feed Print

1. Mark Steven Kirk was born in Champaign, Ill., on Sept. 15, 1959. He graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka.

2. He attended Blackburn College in Illinois and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico before graduating with a B.A. in history from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., in 1981.

3. He earned a master's degree from the London School of Economics in 1982. While in London, he worked as a teacher at the Milestone School, was an assistant to a member of the British House of Commons, and participated in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's re-election campaign in 1983.

4. He began his political career in the United States in 1984 working for Illinois GOP Rep. John Porter.

5. In 1992, Kirk received a J.D. from Georgetown University.

6. After working for the Baker & Mackenzie law firm for two years, he served as a counsel for the House Committee on International Relations from 1995 to 1999. He was elected in 2000 to represent the 10th Congressional District of Illinois.

7. Kirk has served in the Naval Reserve as an intelligence officer since 1990 and now holds the rank of commander. In December, he went to Afghanistan on active duty, becoming the first member of Congress to serve in an "imminent danger zone" since 1942.

8. In June, he divorced his wife of eight years, Kimberly Vertolli.

9. He says his favorite comedian is Sam Kinison and his favorite movie star is Jennifer Aniston.

10. He has a Shih Tzu puppy named Sophie.

Sources:

  • Whorunsgov.com
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Chicago Sun Times
  • Chicago Tribune
  • kirk.house.gov
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Mark Kirk

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Two CORRECTIONS:

1. Kimberly Vertolli DIVORCED Mark Kirk...not the other way around...between the choice of running for re-election to the U.S. Congress in 2008 and staying married to her, he chose politics...she carried out her ultimatum.

2. Mark Kirk DOES NOT have a shih tzu named "Sophie"...she does not live with him and he could never be bothered to take time away from politics for her care.

Sophie Vertolli-Kirk of VA 2:49PM April 01, 2012

We see politicians from both sides, Democratic and Republican who have been in office for years---Mark Kirk for ten years, others for twenty-thirty years all through the time our nation was being driven to the brink of disaster. What did they do about it? NOTHING!Kirk is a Republican, and it was the Republican Party who drove us to the brink. The State of Illinois has fallen from the brink and Kirk was in office all during the time we were growing a bigger and bigger deficit and a horrible financial mess. How do any of these politicians expect the voters to vote them back in or vote them into higher office when they have not accomplished anything while in their current positions??? As an Illinois voter, residing in Will County, I do not recall Kirk being written up for anything worthwhile. In the future, we should hold the feet of all politicians to the fire. If they have not served their constituents well, they should have the guts to step down or we, as voters, should vote them out.

A. Geary of IL 4:45PM February 16, 2010

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