CHICAGO (AP) - State Sen. Donne Trotter was charged Wednesday with a felony count for allegedly trying to board an aircraft with a weapon, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.

The Chicago Democrat faces a Class 4 felony, said spokeswoman Tandra Simonton. Simonton wouldn’t reveal any more information, including which airport Trotter was at or where he was traveling.

Messages left for Trotter on his cellphone and at his office in Chicago seeking comment weren’t immediately returned. He is expected in Cook County bond court on Thursday.

Trotter, 62, recently announced that he would run for Congress, seeking the seat vacated by former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Trotter previously ran for Congress in 2000, a race in which both he and then-state Sen. Barack Obama lost to U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush.

Trotter served in the Illinois House from 1988 to 1993, and since then in the Illinois Senate. Under former Senate President Emil Jones, he was the Senate Democrats’ budget negotiator, known as a cool, calm presence in the often-contentious budget debates during the tenure of ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is now imprisoned on corruption charges.

He was born in Cairo, in far southern Illinois, earned an undergraduate degree from Chicago State University and a law degree from Loyola. He is married and has four children.

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