Who Is Bobby Rush, The Only Man To Ever Beat Obama In An Election?

Former President Barack Obama's political career began in 1996 with his election to the Illinois State Senate. 12 years after he first vied for a political post, he contested and won the American presidential election. Impressively, the stunning transformation of Barack Obama from State Senator to President involved only one election loss. This defeat came in 2000 when he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives and was defeated by incumbent Democrat Bobby Rush.

Obama's loss to the former congressman and pastor was by a significant two-to-one margin, and this was no accident. The New Yorker described the former Representative's tactics as "brutal," as evidenced by one of his many statements. He called Obama an "educated fool" and described him as a person who'd "read about the civil-rights protests and thinks he knows all about it."

Years later, David Remnick, an editor at The New Yorker, reported that Obama's victory as President made Rush extremely happy for two reasons (via NPR). Not only was it a victory for Black people, but he (Rush) was the only person who had ever beaten the man who achieved such a feat.

Bobby Rush was born in 1946 in Albany, Georgia, and moved to Chicago with his family at age seven. The former congressman dropped out of high school and joined the army in 1963. Then, in 1967, while Barack Obama's childhood was still ongoing, Bobby Rush first forayed into activism via the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. A year after this, he left the military and joined the Black Panthers, a political organization focused on African-American issues.

In 1975, he ran for and lost a seat on the Chicago City Council. However, Rush didn't give up, and in 1983, he finally won a seat on the Council. This victory didn't dim his passion for advocacy. In 1992, the activist set his sights on the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois's first congressional district, winning the election in an 82.8% landslide. When Barack Obama challenged him in 2000, Congressman Bobby Rush had been in the seat for eight years and hadn't given his district any reason to replace him. After Obama's defeat, Rush served for more than two additional decades.

Bobby Rush's political journey wasn't just a series of dates and legislations. The politician and activist was involved in several notable civil rights achievements. In 2009, he introduced Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act, named in honor of the 16-year-old from Chicago who was accidentally shot. He also introduced the 2019 Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which aimed to prevent the recurrence of brutal incidents like the lynching of Emmett Till, a teenager from Chicago.

Rush was no less passionate about economics. His involvement in creating Chicago's Partnership for the Earned Income Tax Credit in 2015 greatly benefited low-income earners. In 1999, he sponsored the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act, addressing the shortage of nurses in some regions of Chicago.

Finally, after 31 years in office, Bobby Rush retired from the House of Reps on January 3, 2023. Despite his retirement, he has continued to advocate for the betterment of U.S. citizens. In December 2022, the former politician told The Hill he would focus on his church, community, and "my first love, which is basically social justice and community organizing."