Milorad R. "Rod" Blagojevich (pron-enbl?????.?v?t?Blagojevich.ogg; Serbian (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet): langsr??????? ??????????; born December 10, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 40th (List of Governors of Illinois) Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat (Democratic Party (United States)), Blagojevich was a State Representative (Illinois House of Representatives) before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago. He was elected governor in 2002. He is the second Serbian American to be elected governor of any state in the United States after George Voinovich of Ohio.

Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges (Rod Blagojevich corruption charges) on December 9, 2008. The charges involved conspiracy (Conspiracy (crime)) to commit mail (mail fraud) and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. The Justice Department (United States Department of Justice) complaint alleges that the governor conspired to commit several "pay to play (Pay to Play#In politics)" schemes, including attempting "to obtain personal gain ... through the corrupt use" of his authority to fill Barack Obamas vacated United States Senate seat. In a press briefing on the investigation, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald characterized the scheme as auctioning the seat off to "the highest bidder". The federal trial date has been set for 3 June 2010.

Ultimately, he appointed fellow Democrat and former state attorney general Roland Burris on New Years Eve 2008. Burris was seated after some initial opposition in mid-January 2009. On January 8, 2009, the Illinois House of Representatives voted to impeach (impeachment in the United States) Blagojevich by a 114-1 vote for corruption and misconduct in office, the first time such an action has been taken against a governor of Illinois, making him the second state official in Illinois history to be impeached. On January 27, 2009, Blagojevich began a media campaign planned by power publicist Glenn Selig, founder of the crisis management public relations firm The Publicity Agency. During the two day campaign, he visited Today (Today (NBC program)), Good Morning America, The Early Show, The View (The View (U.S. TV series)), multiple programs on Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC where he proclaimed his innocence and insisted he would be vindicated. Blagojevich was subsequently convicted and removed from office on January 29, 2009, by a unanimous 59-0 vote in the Illinois State Senate. In a separate vote, the Senate voted unanimously to bar Blagojevich permanently from having public office again in the state of Illinois. Lieutenant Governor Patrick "Pat" Quinn (Pat Quinn (politician)) was sworn in subsequently as the new governor.

Blagojevich, often referred to by the nickname "Blago" in print and other media, was the first Democrat to be elected Governor of Illinois since Daniel Walker in 1972. Blagojevich struggled annually to pass legislation and budgets. He had historically low approval ratings within Illinois; at one time the Rasmussen Reports ranked him "Americas Least Popular Governor" even before the news of his corruption investigation broke.