Colleen Callahan

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Colleen Callahan
Candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois, 18th district

Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Dick Burns
Residence	Kickapoo, Illinois
Alma mater	University of Illinois
Occupation	farm broadcaster on radio and TV, farmer

Colleen Callahan is the Democratic candidate for Illinois' 18th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. She has been the farm broadcaster for WMBD radio, and later TV, for 30 years.

After graduating from the University of Illinois in 1973, she moved to Peoria to work for WMBD. This gave her the opportunity to travel the world, including a trip to Afghanistan and Iraq, paid for at her own expense, at the invitation of the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

She has served on the executive boards of many local organizations, including the Peoria YWCA, the Nature Conservancy, Great Rivers Regional Board, Youth for a Cause, Peoria Children’s Home, University of Illinois Alumni Association, and Morton Community Bank. She has also served as a member of the St. Francis Medical Center Women’s Health Services Public Relations Committee, and is a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners. She was the first female President of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB), and was chairman of the NAFB Ethics Committee.

Her family has been active in politics for a long time. Her father, Fran Callahan, was Iroquois County Democratic Chair. Her grandfather, Joe Callahan, was an Illinois State Representative. Her uncle, Gene Callahan, was the Administrative Assistant and Press Secretary for Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon and Chief of Staff for Senator Alan Dixon.

Callahan and her husband Dick Burns live on a farm outside of Peoria where they raise purebred Angus cattle. They have a grown daughter who is a practicing attorney in Chicago.