Overview
- Illinois leaders issued tributes after her death at 85, with Gov. JB Pritzker, House Speaker Chris Welch, and Attorney General Kwame Raoul praising her as a mentor and a force for public service.
- Currie represented Chicago’s Hyde Park area for 40 years and served two decades as the first woman to hold the House majority leader post.
- In 2009 she chaired a bipartisan 21‑member committee that recommended impeaching Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a defining test of her procedural command and resolve.
- She pushed major policy changes that included stronger workplace protections against sexual harassment, overhauls to school funding, expansion of all‑day kindergarten, support for gun control, and work toward ending the death penalty.
- She modeled pragmatic deal‑making and mentorship, from a rare 2016 cross‑aisle handshake with Republicans who helped override a veto on police and fire pension relief to her post‑retirement role with the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership, as women’s representation in the legislature grew to about 42% by 2025.