Bobby Lee Rush (born November 23, 1946) is an American politician, activist and pastor who served as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 1st congressional district for three decades, ending in 2023.

After his parents separated when Rush was 7 years old, his mother took him and his siblings to Chicago, Illinois, joining the Great Migration of African Americans out of the South in the first part of the 20th century.

While stationed in Chicago in 1966, he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which had helped obtain national civil rights legislation passed in 1964 and 1965.

[6] He worked on several nonviolent projects that built support for the Black Panthers in African-American communities, such as coordinating a medical clinic which offered sickle-cell anemia testing on an unprecedented scale.

[9] On May 13, 2017, Rush received a Doctorate of Humanities, honoris causa, from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) for his outstanding contributions to Chicago.

Rush infuriated Harold Washington Party leaders by spurning their candidates for local offices and sometimes backing white Democrats instead.

[13][12] After redistricting in 1992, Rush ran in Illinois's newly redrawn 1st congressional district, which included much of Chicago's South Side.

"[17] Rush claimed Obama was insufficiently rooted in Chicago's black neighborhoods to represent constituents' concerns.

[27] Also in 2013, Alex Clifford was forced to resign as CEO of Metra commuter rail agency, but soon after he left, a memo was released indirectly accusing Rush of using his political power to steer a $50,000 contract to a Washington-based business group.

[29] In the 2019 Chicago mayoral election, Rush endorsed Bill Daley in the first round[30] and Toni Preckwinkle in the runoff.

[37] After Lightfoot failed to advance to the runoff, Rush endorsed Paul Vallas, who was backed by Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police.

[46] Rush was very outspoken against the GOP's No More Solyndras Bill, which would override a loan guarantee by the Energy Department to encourage research and development.

[49][50] On July 15, 2004, Rush became the second sitting member of Congress, after Charles Rangel and before Joe Hoeffel, to be arrested for trespassing while protesting the genocide in Darfur and other violations of human rights in Sudan in front of the Sudanese Embassy.

[53] On March 28, 2012, Rush addressed the House while wearing a hoodie in honor of Trayvon Martin, a teenager who was shot in Florida by a local resident.

[54] As the House forbids its members from wearing headgear as a breach of decorum, Rush was called out of order and escorted from the chamber.

[66] The Federal Election Commission questioned a Rush campaign-finance report that showed thousands of dollars spent on vague categories such as "campaign visibility" and "services rendered."

[67] Oxford Media Group Inc., an Oak Brook company owned by multimillionaire businessman Joseph Stroud, paid the Commonwealth Edison bill—which was well past due, totaling $17,900 for Rush's Beloved Community Christian Church in 2010.

A nonprofit Rush started got $1 million from the charitable arm of what is now AT&T for what turned out to be a failed effort to create a "technology center" in Englewood.

At the time, the telecom giant was seeking support for legislation in a House committee of which Rush was a key member.

[68] From 2001 to 2013, businesses counting on favorable actions by Rush in Congress donated roughly $1.7 million to his pet charities.

Rush attracted more charitable corporate giving than any other Illinois congressman by a large margin, according to a Sunlight Foundation study of expenditures from 2009 to 2011.

While it is impossible to assign cause and effect, at critical junctures Rush parted with fellow liberal Democrats in Congress to take pro-industry positions aligned with corporate benefactors SBC/AT&T, Comcast and ComEd.

[97] Since 2018, 15% of Rush's congressional salary has been garnished to repay more than $1 million he owes on a delinquent loan for the now-closed church he founded in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Judge Alexander White ordered Rush to repay the $550,000 loan that New City Bank granted him and seven other co-signers in 2005.

[99] He was married to community organizer, precinct captain, and political strategist Carolyn Thomas from 1980 or 1981 until her death from congestive heart failure on March 13, 2017.

[104] On October 18, 1999, Rich was approached outside his apartment building by Leo Foster and Darcell Prince, who falsely claimed to be police officers.

[107] Foster told police that he and Prince were coming to collect $110,000 worth of cocaine that Rich had been paid to procure but hadn't delivered.

[110] According to a DNA analysis conducted under the auspices of the TV program Know Your Heritage, he is descended mainly from the Ashanti people of Ghana.