Michael D. Curran

{{short description|American politician}}

Michael D. Curran (born September 23, 1945) is a retired politician and former Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1983 to 1995. He was born in Quincy, Illinois. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.{{cite book|title=Illinois Blue Book 1993-1994|publisher=Illinois Secretary of State|year=1994|location=Springfield, Illinois|url=http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/ref/collection/bb/id/42794}} He retired from the Illinois House of Representatives and ran for Mayor of Springfield, losing to Karen Hasara. He and Vicki Mosley were the last two Democrats to represent Springfield in the Illinois General Assembly until the election of Andy Manar and Sue Scherer to the Illinois Senate and Illinois House, respectively.{{cite news|last=Yeagle|first=Patrick|title=Democrats get their Statehouse chance|date=November 1, 2012|newspaper=Illinois Times|location=Springfield, Illinois|accessdate=August 7, 2017|url=http://illinoistimes.com/article-10662-democrats-get-their-statehouse-chance.html}} A year later, he ran for Congress in Illinois's 18th congressional district losing to incumbent Ray LaHood. In 2003, Curran was sentenced to one year in federal prison for abusing his position with the Illinois Secretary of State.{{cite news|last=Long|first=Ray|title=Former Springfield legislator sentenced|date=December 7, 2003|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|location=Chicago, Illinois|access-date=August 7, 2017|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2003/12/07/former-springfield-legislator-sentenced/}}