Judith Gail Biggert (née Borg; born August 15, 1937) is an American politician and attorney.
[2] She grew up in Wilmette, Illinois, a North Shore Chicago suburb, and graduated from New Trier High School in 1955, then went to Stanford University, where she received a B.A.
in 1963, then clerked for federal judge Luther Merritt Swygert of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1963 to 1964.
Biggert left her federal court law clerkship to have her children, but later did some legal work from her home for family and friends on wills, trusts, and real estate.
[5] She also became active in Chicago community organizations, serving as chair of the Visiting Nurses Association and as president of the Junior League.
[29][30] Biggert was one of 171 of the 178 Republican U.S. House members in the 111th Congress to have signed Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform Taxpayer Protection Pledge:[31] Biggert supported making all of the Bush tax cuts permanent, regardless of income.
In the general she earned 61% of the vote to win the seat opened up by the retirement of U. S. Representative Harris Fawell.
In 2006, Biggert's share of the vote in the general election fell below 60% (58%) for the first time in her Congressional career.
In the redistricting following the 2010 census, the Democratic-controlled state legislature significantly altered Illinois's congressional map, splitting Biggert's district.
Biggert opted to run in the new 11th against the Democratic nominee, former 14th District Congressman Bill Foster.
[66] Since 2004, Biggert's youngest daughter Adrienne Morrell has been a registered lobbyist for Health Net, the sixth largest publicly traded for-profit managed healthcare company; previously Morrell was a lobbyist with America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the chief health insurance industry lobby, after having served as an aide to former seven-term Illinois 13th District U.S. Rep. Harris Fawell, Biggert's predecessor in Congress.
[64][65] In 2008, multimillionaire Biggert was the second wealthiest—after U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-14)—in Illinois's 21-member Congressional delegation, and the 82nd wealthiest member in the U.S.