Judy Baar Topinka (born January 16, 1944) is the Illinois State Comptroller and former Illinois State Treasurer, having served as Treasurer from 1995 to 2007, and former chairwoman of the Illinois Republican Party. She was the first woman to become state treasurer, first to be elected to three consecutive terms and the first Republican to hold the post in more than thirty-two years. During her last term, she was the only elected statewide official from the Republican Party, in Illinois.
In November 2005, Topinka announced her decision to run for Governor of Illinois. In March 2006, she was nominated as the Republican candidate. She was the second woman (after 1994 Democratic nominee Dawn Clark Netsch) and first Republican woman to be nominated for governor of Illinois. She went on to lose the election to Rod Blagojevich.
In 2010, she successfully ran for the office of Illinois State Comptroller.
Read more about Judy Baar Topinka: Early Years, Legislative Career, Illinois State Treasurer, Controversy and Accusation of Favoritism, Illinois Gubernatorial Campaign, 2010 State Comptroller Candidacy, Electoral History