Former two-term Illinois governor Jim Edgar on Monday disclosed he is battling pancreatic cancer, while expressing confidence in his medical treatment.
Edgar, 78, who also served as Illinois secretary of state, and leads the Edgar Fellows program at the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs, wrote in an email to the program’s fellows that he and his wife, Brenda, are “facing a new, significant challenge.”
“Doctors at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago have determined I have pancreatic cancer that has spread. They and physicians at Mayo Clinic are coordinating on a treatment regimen that I am following initially in Arizona, where we spend the winter, and later in Springfield when we return,” Edgar wrote.
“We do not underestimate this challenge, but we have confidence in the medical team helping us address it.”
A spokesman for Edgar did not immediately respond to a request for an interview about his diagnosis.
The former governor — known for his moderate views — last year joined fellow Illinois Republicans such as former U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and former U.S. Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Joe Walsh in campaigning for Democrat Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign as part of a nationwide “Republican for Harris” push to woo anti-Trump Republicans.
Edgar, served as the state’s 38th governor. He also served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1976 to 1979 and as Illinois Secretary of State from 1981 to 1991. After retiring from office, Edgar was a resident fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
The Republican from downstate Charleston was routinely a big vote-getter for the GOP. When he was reelected to his second full term as secretary of state in 1986, Edar won with a plurality then bigger than any other statewide candidate in the history of Illinois.
And when he was re-elected governor in 1994, Edgar racked up the largest plurality of any incumbent Illinois governor — winning 101 of the state’s 102 counties, including Cook County. Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker came a bit closer in 2018 — winning by 15.7%. That was the largest victory margin since 1994, when Edgar walloped Democratic challenger Dawn Clark Netsch 63.9% to 34.4%, a spread of nearly 29.5 percentage points.
Despite repeated GOP efforts to persuade Edgar to return to the fray to run for the U.S. Senate, another term as governor or other elected posts, he officially bowed out of electoral politics in 2005, wiping away tears as he addressed a room packed with reporters, former members of his administration and the politically curious.
“I always said, ‘I never say never.’ Today I say never,” Edgar said at the time. “This is it. … This is my last political press conference.”
Edgar ultimately served on Pritzker’s first transition team. He was also highly critical of former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner during the state’s nearly three-year budget impasse, despite having campaigned for Rauner during the 2018 general election.
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, who was an Edgar Fellow himself, on Monday called the former governor a “true statesman.”
“The opportunity I had to learn from him through the Edgar Fellows Program helped me as a new lawmaker, as a committee chair, and still today as Speaker. The fact that so many leaders in our Capitol can tell similar stories is a testament to the amazing scope of Governor Edgar’s impact,” Welch said.
“Governor Edgar and his family are in my prayers as they face this new challenge. As he has worked to bring out the best in others, may our prayers and well wishes bring the best to him.”
Edgar Fellows Executive Director Janet Mathis wrote in the email that Edgar “continues to be personally engaged” with the fellows team. The new 2025 class of fellows is expected to be announced in May.
Politico first reported the diagnosis.