[2][3][4] Topinka was born in the Chicago, Illinois, suburb of Riverside to Lillian Mary (Shuss) and William D. Baar, the children of Czech and Slovak immigrants.

On the side, Topinka established her own public relations business, through which she began a career in consulting for various political candidates.

This deal was quashed by Attorney General Jim Ryan who stated that the hotels were worth more than the $10 million for which Topinka had attempted to settle the debt.

[8] On November 7, 2005, Topinka announced that she would not seek re-election as state treasurer—instead, she entered the gubernatorial primary, hoping to challenge Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich.

In December she announced that she would join forces with DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett as a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois.

In February 2006, the candidates for the Republican nomination for Illinois Governor began running their first TV ads for the March statewide primary election.

"[citation needed] Later in February, candidate Jim Oberweis, another rival for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, started a series of attack ads against Topinka for television markets that were even more widely criticized, mostly for using "fake" headlines on the images of actual Illinois newspapers.

Topinka was a candidate for the office of Illinois State Comptroller in the 2010 election, facing conservative radio host William J. Kelly and Orland Park Village Trustee Jim Dodge in the Republican primary.

She went on to win the general election against Illinois state representative David E. Miller (D), Julie Fox (L) and E. Erika Schafer (G).

[15] President Barack Obama referred to Topinka as "an institution in Illinois politics", citing her service in a statement from the White House.