Summary

Current Position: US House of Representatives for District 17 since 2023
Affiliation: Democrat
Former Positions: Meteorologist and Communications Manager
District:  Includes most of the northwestern portion of the state, with most of its population living on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities, as well as parts of Peoria and Rockford 
Upcoming Election:

He studied communications and meteorology at Northern Illinois University. Sorensen began his career as a meteorologist. He worked as chief meteorologist for WREX, Rockford’s NBC affiliate, from 2003 to 2014, before becoming the senior meteorologist for WQAD, the ABC affiliate of Moline, Illinois. Sorensen became a fellow of the Society for Environmental Journalists in 2018.

OnAir Post: Eric Sorensen IL-17

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About

Source: Government page

Eric Sorensen IL-17Congressman Eric Sorensen was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois.

He served communities across Central and Northwestern Illinois as a local TV meteorologist for over two decades, communicating live-saving information that impacted Illinoisans’ jobs, schools, farms, and safety. To Eric, being a meteorologist was about building trust and protecting his community.

In Congress, Sorensen still values being a trusted neighbor to the residents of Illinois’ 17th Congressional District. He is focused on lowering costs for working families, creating sustainable jobs in Central and Northwestern Illinois, and supporting the family farms and rural communities that keep our economy moving forward.

Sorensen proudly represents Illinois farmers on the House Agriculture Committee and uses his background in science to contribute to his role on the Science, Space, & Technology Committee. On the Science, Space and Technology Committee, Sorensen serves as Ranking Member on the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee.

He currently resides in Moline with his partner Shawn and his dogs Petey and Oliver.

Personal

Full Name: Eric Sorensen

Gender: Male

Family: Partner: Shawn

Birth Place: Rockford, IL

Home City: Moline, IL

Source: Vote Smart

Education

BS, Northern Illinois University, 1994-1999

Political Experience

Representative, United States House of Representatives, Illinois, District 17, 2023-Present

Professional Experience

Senior Meteorologist, WQAD News 8, 2014-2021

Chief Meteorologist, WREX TV, 2006-2014

Morning Meteorologist, WREX TV, 2003-2006

Morning Meteorologist, KLTV, 2000-2003

Chief Meteorologist, KTRE, 1999-2000

Offices

Washington DC Office
1205 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC  20515Phone: (202) 225-5905

Rockford District Office
401 E. State Street
Ground Floor
Rockford, IL  61104Phone: (779) 513-4960

Rock Island District Office
2401 4th Avenue
Rock Island, IL  61201Phone: (309) 786-3406

Peoria District Office
Conductor’s Quarters Building
403-1/2 NE Jefferson Street
Peoria, IL  61603Phone: (309) 621-7070

Contact

Email: Government page

Web Links

Politics

Source: none

Election Results

To learn more, go to this wikipedia section in this post.

Finances

Source: Vote Smart

Committees

Committee on Agriculture: oversees policies and federal agencies relating to U.S. agriculture, forestry, nutrition, rural development, and will oversee passage of the 2023 Farm Bill.

  • Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit
  • Subcommittee Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology: oversees agency budgets totaling over $42 billion and its jurisdiction covers most non-defense and non-human-health Federal research and development.

  • Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics – Ranking Member
  • Subcommittee on Energy

Caucuses 

New Legislation

Learn more about legislation sponsored and co-sponsored by Congressman Sorensen.

Issues

Source: Government page

More Information

Services

Source: Government page

District

Source: Wikipedia

The 17th congressional district of Illinois is represented by Democrat Eric Sorensen. It includes most of the northwestern portion of the state, with most of its population living on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities, as well as parts of Peoria and Rockford.

The 17th congressional district has shifted northward after redistricting in 2012. It subsequently lost Quincy and Decatur, as well as its share of Springfield. It was generally thought that the redrawn map would allow the district to revert to the Democrats, who held it without interruption from 1983 to 2011. As expected, incumbent Representative Bobby Schilling was defeated, after serving only one term, by Democratic opponent Cheri Bustos in the 2012 election cycle, who served until 2023.

The boundaries were drawn in a bipartisan deal to protect both Democratic incumbent Lane Evans and neighboring Republican incumbents. The lines of the district were drawn to move Republican voters into neighboring districts and to include Democratic neighborhoods in Springfield and Decatur. Evans retired in 2006 as a result of declining health, and the seat was won by his longtime aide Phil Hare. Although the district had been designed to elect a Democrat, Hare lost in 2010 to Republican pizzeria owner Bobby Schilling. In 2012, Democrat Cheri Bustos won the district election.

In early 2021, Cheri Bustos announced her intention to retire at the end of the 117th congress. In November 2021, former WREX and WQAD meteorologist Eric Sorenson announced his candidacy for the seat. He later won the election with 52% of the vote.

Wikipedia


For other people named Eric Sorensen, see Eric Sorensen (disambiguation).

Eric Sorensen (/ˈsɔːrənsən/ SOR-ən-sən; born March 18, 1976) is an American meteorologist and politician serving as the U.S. representative from Illinois’s 17th congressional district since 2023. His district covers a large swath of western and central Illinois, centered around Moline, Rock Island, and the Illinois side of the Quad Cities. It also includes large slices of Peoria and Rockford. A member of the Democratic Party, Sorensen is the first openly gay member of Congress from Illinois.[1]

Early life and career

Sorensen was born in Rockford, Illinois.[2] He graduated from Boylan Catholic High School[3] and then studied communications and meteorology at Northern Illinois University.[4]

Sorensen began his career as a meteorologist at KTRE, the ABC affiliate in Lufkin, Texas, from 1999 to 2000 before moving to Tyler, Texas, where he was the morning meteorologist for East Texas News Daybreak, which aired on both KLTV and KTRE-TV. He worked as chief meteorologist for WREX, Rockford’s NBC affiliate, from 2003 to 2014, before becoming the senior meteorologist for WQAD, the ABC affiliate of Moline, Illinois. Sorensen became a fellow of the Society for Environmental Journalists in 2018.[5]

Sorensen retired from television in 2021.[3][6] Afterwards, he took a job in communications for UnityPoint Health before announcing his run for Congress.[3]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2022

See also: 2022 Illinois’s 17th congressional district election
Sorensen being sworn in with the 118th Congress, 2023

With Cheri Bustos not seeking re-election, Sorensen declared his candidacy for the United States House of Representatives for Illinois’s 17th congressional district in the 2022 elections on November 10, 2021, as a member of the Democratic Party.[6] He defeated Esther Joy King, the Republican nominee, in the November 8, 2022, general election.[7] Upon taking office in January 2023, Sorensen became only the second Democrat since 1927 to represent a significant portion of Peoria, and the second since the 1850s to represent a significant portion of Rockford.[citation needed]

2024

See also: 2024 Illinois’s 17th congressional district election

In the 2024 election, Sorensen defeated Republican nominee Joseph McGraw with 54.4% of the vote.[8]

Tenure

Sorensen visits Ingersoll Machine Tools in Rockford to show support for manufacturing in his district, 2023

Sorensen was sworn into office on January 7, 2023, as the U.S. representative for Illinois’s 17th congressional district.[9] During the 118th Congress, he was appointed to the Agriculture and Science, Space, and Technology committees.[9] In May of his first year, Sorensen introduced the Stop Games Act, legislation aimed at lowering drug costs by allowing the FDA to reject fake citizen petitions used by pharmaceutical companies to delay approval of generic drugs.[10] In July, he secured the inclusion of $4.6 million for six Central Illinois infrastructure projects, ranging from flood mitigation to housing and water system upgrades, in two appropriations bills.[11] In October, he co-introduced the bipartisan Upper Mississippi River Levee Safety Act to give local levee districts more flexibility in managing flood protections along the Mississippi River.[12]

In March 2024, Sorensen secured $123 million for western Illinois infrastructure projects, including water main repairs, road improvements, and river navigation upgrades.[13] In April, he co-introduced the bipartisan ONSHORE Act to help communities attract manufacturing investment by establishing a federal grant program to prepare undeveloped sites for strategically important industries.[14]

In 2025, Sorensen was one of 46 House Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for the Laken Riley Act.[15]

Committee assignments

Sorensen on the Science, Space, & Technology Committee, 2023

Sorensen’s committee assignments for the 119th Congress include:[16]

Caucus memberships

Sorensen’s caucus memberships include:[17]

Personal life

Sorensen is the first openly gay person to be elected to Congress from Illinois.[1] He lives with his partner in Moline.[1]

Electoral history

2022

Illinois 17th Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2022
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticEric Sorensen 14,702 37.7
DemocraticLitesa Wallace9,10323.3
DemocraticJonathan Logemann5,62814.4
DemocraticAngie Normoyle4,81812.4
DemocraticMarsha Williams2,7016.9
DemocraticJacqueline McGowan2,0405.2
Write-in140.0
Total votes39,006 100.0
Illinois 17th Congressional District General Election, 2022[18]
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticEric Sorensen 121,186 52.0
RepublicanEsther Joy King111,93148.0
Write-in60.0
Total votes233,123 100.0

2024

Illinois 17th Congressional District General Election, 2024[19]
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticEric Sorensen (incumbent) 170,261 54.4
RepublicanJoe McGraw142,56745.6
Total votes312,828 100.0

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c “IL Meteorologist Sorensen Becomes State’s First Openly Gay Congressman”. patch.com. November 10, 2022.
  2. ^ “Bioguide Search”. bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c “Eric Sorensen, former Rockford TV meteorologist, to run for Congress”. Rrstar.com. November 10, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  4. ^ Kinnicutt, Grace (October 17, 2022). “Meet the Illinois-17th District candidates: Eric Sorensen and Esther Joy King”. The Quad-City Times. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  5. ^ Schiller, Lucy (November 7, 2019). “The Flood Watcher”. Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  6. ^ a b “Former Rockford meteorologist Eric Sorensen announces run for Illinois’ 17th Congressional District”. Wifr.com. November 10, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  7. ^ “King concedes Illinois 17th Congressional District race to Sorensen”. Kwqc.com. November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  8. ^ “Illinois 17th Congressional District Election Results”. The New York Times. November 5, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  9. ^ a b “Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives”. web.archive.org. March 28, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  10. ^ “U.S. Rep. Sorensen introduces bill to help lower drug prices”. Shaw Local. May 12, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  11. ^ mateusz.janik@lee.net, MATEUSZ JANIK (July 20, 2023). “Congressman Eric Sorensen announces investments for Central Illinois infrastructure projects”. pantagraph.com. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  12. ^ “New legislation to improve flood protections along the Mississippi River”. CIProud.com. October 3, 2023. Archived from the original on January 10, 2025. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  13. ^ “Federal money earmarked for Lanark water main upgrades”. Shaw Local. March 12, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  14. ^ Turner, Johnathan (April 12, 2024). “Bill introduced to help IL QC manufacturing”. Our Quad Cities.
  15. ^ Rashid, Hafiz (January 22, 2025). “The 46 Democrats Who Voted for Republicans’ Racist Immigration Bill”. The New Republic. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  16. ^ “List of Standing Committees and Select Committees of the House of Representatives” (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
  17. ^ “Rep. Eric Sorensen – D Illinois, 17th, In Office – Biography | LegiStorm”. www.legistorm.com. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  18. ^ “2022 General Election Results”. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  19. ^ “2024 General Election Results”. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by

 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois’s 17th congressional district
2023–present		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by

 United States representatives by seniority
357th		Succeeded by


source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Sorensen_(politician)