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'He was brilliant': Illinois GOP strategist John McGovern dead at 48

Posted July 14, 2018 1:00 am

Chicago Sun-Times

At the highest levels of Illinois Republican politics, John McGovern knew how to win.

"He was brilliant ... Everything I built politically I built on a foundation he laid," said former Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, for whom McGovern served as congressional campaign manager - and as the best man at Kirk's wedding.

"When John McGovern said someone was good, that was the stamp of approval you needed to win," Kirk said.

A highly regarded political strategist for the better part of three decades, McGovern died unexpectedly Friday at his Lake Forest home of a suspected heart condition, friends said. He was 48.

McGovern worked as Illinois press secretary for then-House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert in the 1990s after serving as communications director for Peter Fitzgerald, the first GOP senator from Illinois in 14 years.

• This report was produced in partnership with the Chicago Sun-Times. For related coverage, visit chicago.suntimes.com.

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