He attended Spoon River College and received his bachelor's degree in investment finance from University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
In response to the candidacy of former State Senator and Republican Ken McMillan, Edley chose to run as the Democratic candidate.
[4] Edley, with fellow Democrat Thomas J. Homer, was an opponent of the decision to rebury the unearthed remains of Native Americans found at Dickson Mounds unburied.
[5] In 1994, he led a group of rural Democrats in support of a measure to end an increase in benefits for individuals on welfare who had more children after the effective date of the legislation.
[12][13][11] In 2008, Edley explored a run for Congress from Illinois's 18th congressional district in the race to succeed Ray LaHood.
[15] Ultimately, the Democratic county chairmen of the district chose Colleen Callahan who lost to Republican Aaron Schock.
In the 2010 Democratic primary, now a resident of Springfield, he ran for central committeeman from Illinois's 18th congressional district against incumbent James Polk of Peoria.