Phil Crane
Philip Miller Crane (born November 3 1930), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1969, representing the 8th District of Illinois. He was born in Chicago, was educated at Hillsdale College, the University of Vienna, and Indiana University (PhD 1961) and served in the United States Army.Crane was a faculty member at Indiana University and at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, a staff member for the Republican National Committee, director of research for the 1964 Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, and a staff member of (then) former Vice-President Richard Nixon (1964-1968) before entering the House.
Crane is a recovering alcoholic.
Crane is the longest-serving Republican member of the House. He is the brother of former Representative Daniel Crane.
In 2004, Crane is facing a battle against Democrat Melissa Bean. The Bean Campaign has raised almost as much money as Crane, and in 2002, achieved 43 percent of the vote in the highly Republican 8th District.