Alice J. Palmer (née Roberts, June 20, 1939 – May 25, 2023) was an American educator and politician who served as a member of the Illinois Senate.
[2] At the time, the district spanned an economically diverse area and included the Chicago communities of Hyde Park, South Shore and Englewood.
[2] First appointed to fill the vacant seat of retired state senator Richard H. Newhouse, Jr., Palmer successfully ran for election in 1992 and served a four-year term that ended on January 8, 1997.
She then took a position at Northwestern as Associate Dean and Director of African American Student Affairs for five years.
[5] Palmer became involved in a national voter education movement, then founded the Chicago YMCA Youth and Government Program in 1986.
[8][9][10] Shortly afterward, Barack Obama, who had never held political office to-date, launched his campaign committee for Palmer's Illinois State Senate seat.
[13] On November 28, 1995, after finishing a distant third behind Jesse Jackson, Jr. in the primary to replace Reynolds, Palmer remarked that she still would not seek re-election to the state senate.
He easily defeated the Republican and Harold Washington Party candidates in the November general election.