Joliet Democrat Wilhelmi stepping down from State Senate seat

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State Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi, a Democrat from Joliet, has served in the Senate for seven years.

Updated: March 1, 2012 8:29AM

JOLIET — State Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi will be stepping down from his seat in the Legislature in March to take a new job with the Naperville-based Illinois Hospital Association.

“I really enjoyed being in the Senate for seven years,” the Joliet Democrat said Saturday. “It has been just a tremendous experience.”

Wilhelmi said he wants to spend more time with his three young daughters, ages 11, 6 and 3.

“It’s a challenging profession for anyone with a young family,” he said. “But I’ve absolutely enjoyed it and I have no regrets. I’ve worked hard to make sure Will County is positioned for great success moving forward.”

Also, the hospital association job blends his political experience with the work he has been doing for Joliet-based Murer, Brick and Wilhelmi LLC, which is a health care consulting firm.

At the hospital association, Wilhelmi will replace Howard Peters as senior vice president of governmental affairs. Because his job will involve lobbying on behalf of the state’s 200 hospitals, Wilhelmi has to step down from his elected position.

Wilhelmi, 43, was chosen by party leaders from a pool of eight applicants to replace Larry Walsh in the Senate in 2005 after Walsh was elected Will County executive, a post he still holds.

Wilhelmi grew up on West Acre Road in Joliet and was the youngest of six children. His father, Arthur, was a dentist in Joliet for 40 years, and Wilhelmi hoped to follow in his footsteps. He found he did not like science while he was a student at Loyola University, so he switched majors and received a bachelor’s degree in English.

He went on to receive a law degree from Chicago Kent College of Law and returned to Joliet to work for McKeown law firm, where he specialized in real estate and corporate issues. He left the law firm to work for Murer in 2008.

Wilhelmi said party leaders will choose someone to serve out the remainder of his term. Someone will have to be appointed to the November ballot.

Wilhelmi did not have a challenger in the upcoming March 20 Democratic primary. Republican Sandra Johnson, a Manhattan banker, is the lone candidate in the Republican primary.