Fitzgerald, Peter Gosselin (1960-…), served in the United States Senate from 1999 to 2005. Fitzgerald, a Republican, represented Illinois. Before he became a U.S. senator, he served in the Illinois state Senate from 1993 to 1999.
In the U.S. Senate, Fitzgerald gained a reputation as an outspoken independent. He focused on such matters as improving the financial accountability of corporations and government agencies, increasing consumer safety, and fighting political corruption.
Fitzgerald was born on Oct. 20, 1960, in Elgin, Illinois. He received a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in 1982. In 1983, he attended Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki in Greece. Fitzgerald earned a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1986. He then began working as a lawyer in Chicago.
Fitzgerald won election to the Illinois state Senate in 1992. As a state senator, he showed a strong interest in financial issues. He worked on legislation to improve accounting methods and require competitive bidding on state contracts. In 1997, he voted against an increase in the state income tax.
Fitzgerald was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998. In winning the election, he defeated Democratic Senator Carol Moseley-Braun, the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate. Fitzgerald took office as a U.S. senator in 1999. He did not seek reelection in 2004 and left office when his term ended in January 2005.
