conservative and fiscal populist; he was opposed to abortion, gay marriage, and the death penalty largely on religious grounds, and opposed free trade agreements. The National Taxpayers Union ranked him 13th of 256 Democrats in the 103rd Congress. He was also a strong proponent of campaign finance reform. He sponsored the Illinois Wilderness Act of 1990 , which created the Garden of the Gods Wilderness, and he cosponsored the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century and the Credit Union Membership Access Act. He voted against the Flag Desecration Amendment. While in Congress, he twice earned a place on Roll Call's Obscure Caucus list and earned a reputation as prioritizing his district's needs over national media. After he left Congress, Poshard and his wife Jo founded the Poshard Foundation for Abused Children, which raises more than $100,000 annually to fund care for abused children and other victims of domestic abuse throughout southern Illinois. Among its many activities, the Poshard Foundation led efforts to construct a new $600,000 women's shelter in Cairo, Illinois that opened in December 2003. Gubernatorial campaign In 1998 Poshard ran for governor against Republican Secretary of State George Ryan. He was somewhat more conservative on social issues than Ryan, a moderate Republican. While this garnered him support from social conservatives who normally voted Republican, it also cost him some support from Chicago liberals. In keeping with his views on campaign financing, Poshard severely curtailed contributions to his campaign. He refused to accept any corporate or special interest group donations and limited private donations to a small amount per individual. He thus faced a significant financial disadvantage in the campaign against Ryan and was outspent by a roughly 4 to 1 margin. Poshard was first to alert the public about Ryan's connection to the "licenses for bribes" scandal and other corruption. Some individuals, even prominent Democrats like former Senator Paul Simon, criticized Poshard for his attacks on Ryan's corruption. However, Poshard was vindicated to a considerable extent when Ryan was indicted in late 2003 on 22 counts of racketeering conspiracy, mail and tax fraud, and false statements charges alleging public corruption during his terms as Illinois Secretary of State and as governor. Ryan was subsequently convicted and was sentenced to serve six and a half years in prison. Poshard lost the governor's race to Ryan by a 47–51% margin. In his concession speech, Poshard declared that "no purpose