Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering to head Mayors Caucus
Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering has been unanimously elected as the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus’ next chair.
Rotering gained national attention after the 2022 Highland Park Fourth of July parade mass shooting in which seven people were killed.
Rotering has previous experience as the Mayors Caucus’ secretary and the second vice chair.
“She has extensive local government experience, a passion for the work, and a strong network of relationships throughout our region and the state as well as an impactful voice on the national and international stage,” said Neil James, caucus executive director, in a news release.
Focusing on 275 cities, towns and villages in the northeastern Illinois region, the Mayors Caucus works to improve public policy issues affecting the lives of the area’s residents.
“The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus is a great cooperative effort among Chicago area municipalities,” Rotering said in the news release. “And, while each of the member towns has its own priorities to address, we come together as a group to focus on matters that affect the entire area from a regional perspective.”
Rotering previously served as president of the Northwest Municipal Conference in 2021, she has been on the board of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning since 2019, and founded the North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic in 2015. She also is in her fourth term as Highland Park’s mayor, teaches social policy at Northwestern University and is a part of the International Steering Committee for Strong Cities Network.
Rotering has advocated for gun control reform throughout her career. In 2013, she signed a citywide assault weapons ban in Highland Park.
Sixteen days after the Highland Park shooting, Rotering pleaded with Congress to pass a federal assault weapons ban. She also supported and welcomed Gov. JB Pritzker signing a statewide ban on assault weapon sales and distribution in response to the deadly Fourth of July shooting in her hometown.
Rotering has a Bachelor of Arts in economics degree from Stanford University, received her Master of Business Administration degree from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and has been an attorney for more than three decades after graduating from the University of Chicago Law School.