William E. Brady (born May 15, 1961)[1] is an American politician who was a Republican member of the Illinois Senate from May 2002 until his resignation in December 2020.

[6][7] After the 2020 general election, the Republican caucus chose Senator Dan McConchie to take over as Minority Leader.

[12] Brady ran for Governor of Illinois three times and was the Republican Nominee in 2010, but was ultimately unsuccessful in each run.

[14] In the 2010 gubernatorial election, he defeated his closest competitor, State Senator Kirk Dillard, by 193 votes in the GOP primary,[15] and faced incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Quinn and Green Party candidate Rich Whitney in November.

[15] Brady's running mate was 28-year-old Jason Plummer, past Chairman of the Madison County Republican Party and, at the time,[citation needed] an intelligence officer in the U.S.

However, Quinn's huge win in Cook County which encompasses the Chicago Metropolitan Area, provided a large buffer of votes that Brady could not overcome.

On election night, Quinn had an initial, large lead when results from Cook County were the first began to come in.

[20] His fellow GOP contenders were businessman Bruce Rauner, state treasurer Dan Rutherford, and Senator Kirk Dillard.

[31] Brady has opposed efforts to raise state sales and income tax rates in Illinois.

He favors reducing sales taxes that he claims drive retail jobs and businesses to other states.