Toi Hutchison
5 Reasons We Love Toi
1. She comes from a long line of public servants—including grandparents who served in World War II and the Korean War–two very important men who influence Toi’s decisions and staunch advocacy for veterans.
2. Toi is a wife, mother of three, business owner, state Senator and still finds time to get involved in community activities. How does she do it? She is truly an inspiration and proof that women can have it all!
3. She sponsored legislation to create a foreclosure prevention program to help working families stay in their homes.
4. As a mom Toi knows the importance of having happy, healthy kids so created a nutrition and physical activity best practices database to guide local school districts.
5. A continued fighter for education, Toi has worked to increase public education funding and spoke out against the Governor’s education cuts. She knows we need more funding for education, not less.
Meet Toi
The 40th Legislative District is a unique area that includes four distinct counties made up of people from all walks of life. It is rural and urban, has pockets of wealth buttressed by communities of great need, densely populated communities, as well as towns where houses are three miles apart. In short, the 40th District is a microcosm of the state. Toi Hutchinson believes that she represents a host of constituencies that reflect the diversity of the district itself. She is a wife, mother, student, business owner, public servant, and lifelong Democrat.
Toi was appointed to the Illinois State Senate in January 2009 following the election of former Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson to the U.S. House of Representatives. Toi currently serves on the following Senate committees: Agriculture and Conservation; Labor; Local Government; State Government and Veteran Affairs; and Transportation.
Toi is especially proud of her vice chairmanship of the State Government and Veterans Affairs committee as both of her grandfathers served in the armed forces. Toi’s maternal grandfather, Clarence Smithson, served during the Korean conflict in the Army and her paternal grandfather, E. Scoville Walker, served in World War II as a United States Marine.
Experience to Benefit the Community: Toi knows the issues facing the 40th District well. She served two terms as Village Clerk for the Village of Olympia Fields, and was Chief of Staff for Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson from 2005 – 2006. Following this, Toi gained additional experience while advocating on behalf of the Illinois State Alliance of YMCA’s. This invaluable experience taught her the mechanics of Springfield, including negotiating issues through committees and watching how disparate opinions and opposing views are resolved through the ebb and flow of the legislative process.
In addition to her legislative work, Toi has over 15 years of experience in grassroots community organizing and nonprofit development. Her past and present civic involvement includes service on the Executive and Political Action Committees of the South Suburban NAACP; Community Liaison and Vice President of Diversity, Inc.; the Government Affairs Council of the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce; Vice Chair of the Olympia Fields Planning Commission; and a host of other community boards and commissions. In 2004 Toi became a Harvard Kennedy School of Government Executive Management Fellow, for the Women and Leadership program.
Close Ties to the Community: Toi moved to Country Club Hills, Illinois in 1982 where she was reared by her mother and grandparents. Toi attended Infant Jesus of Prague elementary school in Flossmoor and Rich Central High School in Olympia Fields. The political bug bit Toi early as she was voted class president of her freshman and sophomore classes and elected president of Student Council her senior year. Toi attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with supporting course work in Psychology.
In 2004 Toi ran for Bloom Township Supervisor. While on the trail, Toi met many people and had numerous conversations with them about the issues concerning their families and their livelihoods. Although she narrowly lost that race, she gained learned first hand about the joys and hardships of campaigning. The day after that race, she went to work for then State Senator Debbie Halvorson in Chicago Heights. Not one to rest on her laurels and always interested in new challenges, Toi was in her second year of law school at Northern Illinois University College of Law at the time of her appointment, and is currently on a leave of absence from that institution. Fortunately, she had completed Constitutional Law 1 and 2 before she walked into the historic impeachment trial of former Governor Rod Blagojevich.