11 Facts About Penny Severns

Penny Severns was a member of the Illinois Senate who represented the 51st Senate District from 1987 until her death in February 1998.

Penny Severns represented the agency during the negotiations of the Camp David Accords.

In 1983, Penny Severns became the Democratic Party of Illinois's Central Committeewoman from Illinois's 20th congressional district, serving alongside Central Committeeman Vince Demuzio.

Penny Severns served as minority spokesperson of the Revenue Committee and on the Executive Committee and Legislative Audit Commission, all three of which were first-tier assignments.

Penny Severns rose to become the senior Democrat on another key committee, Appropriations, and was the first woman to be appointed a chief budget negotiator.

In 1989, Penny Severns was selected from a nationwide group of legislators to participate as a fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

In late 1993, Penny Severns announced that she was going to run for the Democratic nomination for Illinois Comptroller, but later switched to running for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois.

Ultimately, Netsch and Penny Severns lost to Jim Edgar and Bob Kustra.

Roughly a week after her removal from the ballot, Penny Severns died of cancer.

At the time of her death, Penny Severns was in a relationship with journalist Terry Mutchler; however, they kept the relationship secret.

In November 2014 a book Mutchler wrote about her relationship with Penny Severns, titled Under This Beautiful Dome, was published.