Illinois Senate career of Barack Obama record the race of drivers they stopped. In February 2002, Obama introduced SB 1789, which would have adopted instant-runoff voting (IRV) for congressional and state primary elections in Illinois and authorized IRV for local elections, although it did not ultimately pass. He resigned from the Illinois Senate in November 2004 following his election to the U.S. Senate. Illinois Senate career of Barack Obama Barack Obama served three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, when he was elected to the United States Senate. During this part of his career, Obama continued teaching constitutional law part time at the
Middle Eastern foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration forces to Iraq in response to the rise of extreme Islamist non-state actors such as the Islamic State, and the deteriorating humanitarian conditions there. Before and after the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States, some Jews, including United States Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, questioned Obama's commitment to Israeli security. Obama maintained that he supports Israel and said he would continue the U.S. alliance with Israel as president. The Democratic candidate ultimately carried the state of Florida, with its large Jewish population, in the general election, signaling that his efforts to assuage the concerns of Israeli