Barbara Flynn Currie

Barbara Flynn Currie was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1979 to 2019. She served as the majority leader from 1997 to 2019. She was the first woman to hold this position, and is also the longest serving Illinois House majority leader to date. Flynn Currie's forty years as a member of the Illinois General Assembly is the longest tenure of any woman to serve in the Illinois General Assembly.