CHICAGO (AP) — Former Illinois state Senate president and Democratic National Committee member Thomas Hynes has died. He was 80.

Cheever Griffin, Hynes’ son-in-law, confirmed that Hynes died Saturday in Chicago at Northwestern Memorial Hospital from complications of Parkinson’s Disease.

Hynes was a powerhouse in Chicago politics for decades. His political career spanned from 1970, when he was elected to the state Senate. It ended in 2014, when he stepped down from his position on the DNC.

In that time, he spent 31 years as a Democratic committeeman, two decades as Cook County assessor and the Illinois campaign chair for President Bill Clinton’s re-election campaign in 1996.