Redistricting by Democratic legislators following the 2000 census made veteran Republican senator Kathy Parker, vulnerable, and Garrett won the seat in 2002. While in the Illinois House, Garret proposed to limit campaign contributions from government employees to politicians for whom they worked, as well as from special interests, and upon election to the state Senate, she was named vice chair of the Government Ethics Reform Committee. In July 2011, Garrett announced she would not seek re-election to the state senate in 2012.
