Black Panther - Bobby Rush

Bobby Lee Rush (born November 23, 1946) is an American politician, activist, pastor, and the U.S. Representative for Illinois's 1st congressional district, serving in Congress for more than two decades.

A civil rights activist during the 1960s, Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers.

Rush was first elected to Congress in 1992. He has since won consecutive re-elections. His district was originally located principally on the South Side of Chicago, with a population from 2003 to early 2013 that was 65 percent African-American, a higher proportion than any other congressional district in the nation. In 2011 the Illinois General Assembly redistricted this area following the 2010 census. Although still minority-majority, since early 2013 it is 51.3 percent African American, 9.8 percent Latino, and 2 percent Asian. He was re-elected in 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, Rush is the only politician to have defeated former President of the United States Barack Obama in an election, which he did in the 2000 Democratic primary for Illinois's 1st congressional district.