Mark Q. Rhoads was first elected to the Illinois State Senate in November 1976 at the age of 29 and was the youngest member of the Senate for the 1977 term. He was re-elected in 1980 and was elected as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Detroit. He had served as Illinois Campaign Manager for the Presidential campaign of Congressman Philip M. Crane, prior to the Illinois primary election. In his early career, Mr. Rhoads worked as an office aide to the late U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen and as a legislative research assistant to Congressman Edward Derwinski. In 1973 and 1974, Mr. Rhoads was a founder of The Illinois Conservative Union and The American Legislative Exchange. Senator Rhoads is a member of the Illinois Economic and Fiscal Commission and is minority spokesman on the Elections and Reapportionment Committee and has served on the Transportation, Revenue, and Appropriations Committees.