Porter McNeil loved swimming, freestyle and backstroke, and competing against others as well as against the clock. His time in the pool also helped him navigate the currents of public opinion in his role as a Democratic political consultant widely regarded by both sides for riding the waves of common sense.

McNeil, 65, a member of the Rock Island County Board who also had a lengthy resume of working on political campaigns in Illinois, Iowa and the Quad Cities, died Friday. Despite being diagnosed with cancer four years ago, he continued his public duties — and his swimming.

“Porter was an outstanding public servant and community leader who exemplified integrity, decency and a passion for justice,” said Robin Johnson, a governmental relations, public policy and political consultant who also is an adjunct professor of political science at Monmouth College in far west-central Illinois.

“Like many of us of that generation, he was inspired by the idealism of the Kennedys for making a better world. But Porter tempered that with a common sense wisdom to talk with the other side and get things done,” said Johnson, a close friend who would frequently share political conversations with McNeil, often over dinner and sometimes with a bottle of wine.

McNeil’s roster of campaign work reads like a history of local, state and national politics.

From 1992 to 1996, he worked on downstate Illinois House campaigns, was a consultant for former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s 1998 win that ended 30 years of Republican governors of Iowa, assisted several of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s reelection campaigns, recruited delegates for the 2004 bid of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, did outreach on Chris Kennedy’s unsuccessful 2018 run for the Democratic nomination for Illinois governor, and provided advice and counsel to numerous candidates in northwestern Illinois as well as assisting the state Democratic Party.

In 2021, McNeil was appointed to the Rock Island County Board and last year won reelection to the seat.

“Porter’s passing leaves an irreplaceable hole in the community he loved so fiercely,” Governor JB Pritzker said in a statement. “His infectious enthusiasm and fervent dedication to his family, his friends, and to doing the right thing for the neighbors he represented should serve as a guiding light for all public officials to follow.”

McNeil spent time working for the political firm headed by David Axelrod, who went on to become senior advisor to President Barack Obama. Axelrod, now a senior political commentator for CNN, said that McNeil “had a great talent for communications and tremendous passion for politics but always as a vehicle to help improve the lives of his community and hard-working people.”

But as much as McNeil played a role in so many political campaigns, he was also remembered for his family life as a husband and father of three children.

“You will hear from politicians and former politicians and those connected to Illinois politics who will tell you about Porter always being there for Democrats — and he was,” said former U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos of East Moline.

“But my first thought upon hearing of his passing was about his wife and kids. He brought his kids to political events from the time they were very young and his wife, Mary, was positive and upbeat and smart. That says something about a political family and about Porter — when your spouse and children are genuinely good people,” Bustos said. “Porter is leaving a lasting legacy in politics through his family.”

McNeil, a Moline native, was a 1978 graduate of Moline High School, and he received his bachelor’s degree from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1986, he earned a master’s degree from the public affairs reporting program at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

After graduation, he spent six years working as the public affairs coordinator for UIS before going to work for the Illinois House Democrats on staff and on campaigns, rising to assistant director of communications. In 1997, he joined Axelrod’s firm to work on Vilsack’s campaign. Then, in 1999, he served as press secretary to then-state Comptroller Dan Hynes. In 2001, he left Springfield to return to the Quad Cities as president of McNeil Communications.

McNeil made frequent appearances on local television shows on politics and did work for a variety of local organizations and nonprofits, including leading the communications campaign that led to the Quad Cities campus of Western Illinois University in Moline, and more recently, the effort to return passenger rail service to the area.

“Porter was a dear friend whom I counted on in many campaigns,” said Durbin, Illinois’ senior U.S. senator, who is retiring in 2027. “He knew the Quad Cities, and people respected his honesty and his values.

McNeil is survived by his wife, Mary, whom he married in 1989,  three children, James, Jack and Ellie, and one grandson.

Visitation is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 19, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Rafferty Funeral Home, 2111 1st Street A, in Moline. Funeral services are private. In lieu of flowers, a scholarship fund has been established to support Quad Cities area students who aspire to careers in public service, communications, or politics at https://ift.tt/gjutPlA