Political Science

Ph.D., American University, 1985

Tari Renner is currently a Political Science Professor at Illinois Wesleyan University.  He served as Department Chair from 1994 until 2003 and from 2005 until 2008.  Dr. Renner’s research interests include American elections and local government policy-making structures, administration and finance.  He has published over thirty articles and books.

 Tari Renner has extensive experience in electoral politics and local government.  He was elected to three terms on the McLean County Board and served the Chair of the Board’s Justice Committee from 2002 to 2010.  In 2004, Renner was the Democratic nominee for U.S. Congress in Illinois’ Eleventh Congressional District.  In 2009, he ran for Mayor of Bloomington and lost to the incumbent by 15 votes – the closet in the city’s history. In 2013, he was elected Mayor with an absolute majority in a three-way race (read the IWU Magazine article for more information).

 Tari Renner was the weekly political commentator on Peoria/Bloomington’s NBC affiliate (WEEK Channel 25) from 1996 through 2003.

 During and after the completion of his graduate work in Washington, D.C., Renner worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and as the Director of Research for the International City/County Management Association (ICMA).