9 things about David McSweeney
1. David McSweeney was born on Oct. 1, 1965, in Park Ridge, Ill.
2. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Duke University in 1987, and an M.B.A. from Duke's Fuqua School of Business in 1988.
3. McSweeney met his wife, Margaret, when both worked at Chase Manhattan in New York. As newlyweds, he and Margaret tutored at-risk students in Harlem.
4. McSweeney became interested in politics at an early age, when he was a page for a state senator in Springfield. He also interned with the Reagan-Bush campaign in 1984, served as a Palatine Township Trustee from 1995 to 2000, and is currently a precinct captain in Barrington and Schaumburg Townships.
5. Tributes to Reagan remain with the family: McSweeney's oldest daughter's middle name is Reagan, and a 1993 photo of the three of them with the former president hangs in the entry hall of the family home.[1]
6. McSweeney first ran for national office in 1998 when he challenged Rep. Philip Crane in the Republican primary. Crane, however, was renominated, winning 65percent to McSweeney's 35percent.[2]
7. This time around, McSweeney left his job as a managing director at an investment banking firm to focus on the race.
8. By spending close to $2 million of his own money and knocking on 5,000 district doors, McSweeney emerged victorious in a six-way GOP primary earlier this year. He now faces freshman Democratic Rep. Melissa Bean in the fall's midterm election.
9. He lives in Barrington Township with his wife and two daughters, Melissa and Katie.
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