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Kerry Lester

Politics/Projects Writer

Kerry Lester is the Daily Herald's politics and projects writer, covering national, state and local politics through a suburban lens.

First hired as a part-time editorial assistant in the paper's features department, Kerry covered education before moving to the political beat in July 2010.

In this role, she has broken a number of national stories, including the decision of Tea Party firebrand Joe Walsh to switch Congressional districts in his bid for re-election, and the potentially costly decision of the Mitt Romney presidential campaign not to challenge the petitions of Rick Santorum in Illinois. She has written about the trajectory of House GOP Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam and the recovery of U.S. Senator Mark Kirk from a stroke extensively.

Kerry has won a number local and national awards from the Chicago Journalists Association, Inland Press Association and Chicago Headline Club.

The story she is proudest of is a series about the physical and emotional recovery of an Elgin teacher who was stabbed by a student inside her classroom in January 2008. The second half to that series - a probing look into the impulse behind the attack - came after Kerry spent more than three years working to obtain an interview with the incarcerated teen. These stories uncovered problems across the suburbs with how schools and police communicate about troubled teens and inspired a bill that is making its way through the state legislature.

A native of Des Plaines, Kerry earned a bachelor's degree from Villanova University and a master's degree from the Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

She lives in Arlington Heights.

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Ex-Sen. Fitzgerald calls Patrick Fitzgerald a “transformational U.S. attorney”

May 24 2012 | 5:07 am - Before announcing that he would be stepping down as U.S. attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald made a courtesy call to the former U.S. senator from Inverness who fought for his appointment. Peter Fitzgerald wasn't surprised. "That's a very intense,...

Kirk visits with Polish president, receives Commander's Cross

May 23 2012 | 12:54 pm - The world's leaders have largely left Chicago following the conclusion of the NATO summit, yet one extended his stay to see a friend who fell ill just days after a previous visit. Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski on Tuesday paid a visit to U.S.

Madigan on Nekritz' rising stature

May 20 2012 | 11:23 pm - In an interview, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan details his relationship with Northbrook Democratic Rep. Elaine Nekritz, and how he's watched her grow since she was elected in 2002.

State Rep. Nekritz calls crossing Madigan a defining moment

May 21 2012 | 12:21 pm - Three years ago, Elaine Nekritz chose to cross arguably the most powerful man in Illinois politics: House Speaker and Democratic Party Chair Michael Madigan. It's a move she cites now as the defining moment of her legislative career. The Northbrook...

Gloves come off early in first Walsh, Duckworth debate

May 11 2012 | 9:17 pm - Congressman Joe Walsh and his 8th District opponent, Democrat Tammy Duckworth, officially met for the first time Friday night at their first debate, just minutes before going onto the set. But the pair didn't mince words, working quickly to...

Pension funding debate plays into old city-suburb divisions

May 10 2012 | 11:27 am - A proposal to shift the state's share of teacher pension payments to local school districts pits the suburbs and downstate against Chicago. But that's nothing new -- for decades, suburban lawmakers generally took a stand against a different...

Emanuel, suburban mayors share podium over pension reform

May 10 2012 | 11:14 pm - At the podium together for the first time since his election last year, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and more than two dozen suburban mayors Thursday called for pension reform and said their municipalities are being pushed to "the verge of bankruptcy."

School safety bill in limbo over privacy concerns

May 09 2012 | 5:12 am - School safety legislation arising from the 2008 stabbing of an Elgin High School teacher by a student has stalled in an Illinois Senate criminal law committee, and its sponsor says she is considering narrowing its scope with the hope a version could...

Kirk reveals details of late January stroke

May 09 2012 | 7:29 am - His gait is slow but steady. His voice deliberate but strong. His writing detailed and clear. Hours apart from one another Tuesday, Sen. Mark Kirk’s staff released the first video and writings of the Highland Park Republican since his stroke...

For Duckworth and Walsh, it's not how much you raise but how you raise it

May 07 2012 | 3:56 pm - Who's more local? In advance of their first debate Friday, 8th Congressional District candidates Tammy Duckworth and Joe Walsh trade jabs on out-of-town fundraising.

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