Today, the Tribune Editorial Board turns its attention to Springfield with our endorsements for the Illinois Senate, which will be followed later by our endorsements for the Illinois House. As the Tribune is the state’s most widely read newspaper, and as a service to our far-flung readership, we’re proud to offer endorsements in all contested races, statewide.
Readers hardly need reminded of the importance of state governance to those who live in metropolitan Chicago, especially given the ongoing pension crisis, the state’s difficulties in attracting new business and maintaining affordability for residents, not to mention Springfield’s potential role in the Chicago Public Schools crisis. And, for the record, no new Chicago stadium for the Chicago Bears is likely without action in the Illinois legislature.
4th District
The 4th District, rigged to resemble a misshapen popsicle on a stick, is centered in Chicago’s western suburbs and including some or all of such communities as Berwyn, Cicero, Elmhurst, Forest Park, Hillside, Hinsdale, La Grange, Oak Brook, Oak Park, River Forest, Westchester, Western Springs and Westmont. The incumbent in this safe Democratic district is 56-year-old Kimberly Lightford, who is running against Republican Robert Sumrell Jr., a Navy veteran who tells us he is a state employee.
Sumrell tells us that “the constituents of the 4th District are happy to finally have another choice in the race,” and that he will bring change. He also said he wants to see more business development in the district that might “help to lower the tax liability of residents and share the responsibility to more small businesses.”
A champion for education issues (and early childhood issues more broadly) who has extensive experience, Lightford became the first Black woman to serve as Illinois’ Senate majority leader in 2019 and is widely respected in her district; when first elected in 1998, she became the youngest person ever to be elected to the Illinois Senate. We don’t agree with all her positions but consider her a distinguished legislator whose results speak for themselves. In our minds, Sumrell has not run a competitive campaign.
Kimberly Lightford is endorsed.
10th District
Rob Martwick, a 58-year-old former assistant state’s attorney in the Cook County state’s attorney office, is the Democratic incumbent (since 2019) in the 10th District, which is home to some 140,000 voters and includes much of Chicago’s Northwest Side as well as some or all of such surrounding suburbs as Park Ridge, Schiller Park, Franklin Park and Norridge.
“The biggest issue affecting my district, and every middle-class community in the state,” Martwick tells us, “is the financial suffering that has been created by economic and tax policy that has all but extinguished the American dream.” He told us he supports the consolidation of the various transit agencies in the Chicago area, a smart position. As for the property tax burden, he says “our current system lacks transparency, reliability, and certainty, which is the primary reason investors refuse to invest in Illinois.” He also says that people are leaving the state because they are being “crushed by a high tax burden and yet get little in the way of government services that they need for themselves and their families to prosper.” We find Martwick, who sits on many powerful Springfield committees, impressively plainspoken and moderate.
Martwick’s Republican challenger is 65-year-old software engineer Jon Luers, whose blunt website says that he wants to “kick out the liars, grifters and self-serving, power-hungry Marxists, and elect average citizens who will care about each citizens’ welfare.”
Luers tell us that “average citizens are tired of unrepresentative government that clearly hates us.” Luers, who ran as a write-in candidate in 2022, says he plans “to be a voice for sane, reasonable, limited spending that keeps our budget balanced and reduces the tax burden on citizens.” We appreciate a lot of Luers’ positions, especially on reining in out-of-control Springfield spending, but believe the incumbent is the best choice for this district.
Rob Martwick is endorsed.
19th District
This district in Chicago’s southwest suburbs includes all or part of such communities as Country Club Hills, Frankfort, Hazel Crest, Homewood, Joliet, Lockport, Oak Forest, Olympia Fields, Orland Hills and University Park. The incumbent is Democrat Michael E. Hastings, a 44-year-old attorney and political moderate who says “the single most pressing issue facing our district is the need to reduce the property tax burden on residents and protect civil liberties.” He also says that he is disinclined to give the Chicago Teachers Union a blank check: “The city of Chicago,” he told us, “must first address its internal governance and collaborate more effectively with the state legislature before making demands on legislators who do not represent the city.”
Hastings’ Republican challenger is 36-year-old Samantha Jean Gasca of New Lenox, who centers her religious faith. “Most importantly, I am a follower of Jesus,” she writes on her website. “My intention is that my values, actions, behaviors, choices, tones, expressions, and words reflect my faith in God. I believe in traditional values.” She also says she would care about education and safer streets, but she has not mounted an extensive campaign.
Michael Hastings is endorsed.
20th District
The famously left-leaning 20th District has been represented in turn by Iris Martinez, now clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, and Cristina Pacione-Zayas, who gave up the seat to join Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration. The Democrat is former CTU organizer and activist Graciela Guzman, 34, whom we did not endorse in the primary as we greatly preferred the more moderate and independent Natalie Toro.
Guzman’s impressive Republican challenger is Jason Proctor, a smart advisory systems engineer who was born in Peoria and grew up in South Bend. Proctor, who says he stands for “sensible solutions” over “extreme politics,” tells us that the most important issue facing those in his district is “the extremely high cost of living in Illinois.” He also said he was “committed to serving with integrity, focusing on real solutions for our community — from education and health care to public safety and economic growth.”
We like a lot of what Proctor had to say, and he answered all of our questions in admirably specific detail. The Republican leadership in Springfield tells us they see Proctor as someone who can and will work across the aisle. Guzman is far too much of an extremist for us and, we think, for anyone in this district who believes there has to be some opposition to the power of the Chicago Teachers Union in and beyond City Hall.
Jason Proctor is endorsed.
25th District
This skinny district is located in Chicago’s western suburbs and includes all or parts of Aurora, North Aurora, Batavia, West Chicago, South Elgin, Wayne and Bartlett. The incumbent is 46-year-old Democrat Karina Villa, who has served both in the Illinois House and Senate. There’s no Republican challenger in a district that redistricting turned into a safer Democratic seat, but independent Heather Brown is on the ballot. (Brown, who works for the city of West Chicago, ran for this seat as a Republican in 2022.)
Villa is a progressive who tells us she is an enthusiastic supporter of the SAFE-T Act and a staunch supporter of abortion rights, by contrast with Brown. In Springfield, Villa has made a specialty of committees dealing with mental health and social services. She says the most pressing issue dealt with by her office is housing insecurity. “This is a result of lack of access, poor tenant protections, and rising costs,” she told us. “We’ve made progress in the General Assembly incentivizing construction of affordable housing with developers, granting resources to the district to revitalize deteriorating and vacant properties, as well as support for the rental housing program, but we know there is more work to be done.” And when we asked about education funding, she emphasized the state’s obligation to fund all districts equitably. She was less forthcoming when it comes to ways to cut government spending.
Brown told us that she would focus on ethics and that the state budget “should not be drafted as if we are still getting pandemic funding.”
“They are still spending as if the millions are flowing into our state when in reality the burden goes onto every taxpayer,” Brown told us. “As a previous accountant and still current debt consultant, I will also make sure that organizations get money promised to them in a timely manner and not slated to organizations of the state’s one-sided government rule by Cook County.”
We like lots of Brown’s ideas and disagree plenty with Villas. But Villas clearly is an effective legislator, cares about her constituents, and we see no reason to vote her out this fall.
Karina Villa is endorsed.
27th District
Formerly represented by Ann Gillespie, this suburban district includes parts of Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Rolling Meadows, Barrington, Inverness, Palatine, Prospect Heights and South Barrington. The Democratic incumbent is 76-year-old Mark L. Walker, a former member of the Illinois House (53rd District) who has served in the Senate only since May, when he was appointed to replace Gillespie. The Republican challenger is 55-year-old Tom Schlenhardt, a consultant specializing in government affairs.
Walker, a Vietnam veteran, says he is running because he “wants to be proud of Illinois again.” He holds many traditional Democratic positions, including support for abortion rights, a determination to get to the root causes of crime and a focus on the environment. He’s a moderate, as you’d expect in this district.
Schlenhardt told us that “the most pressing issue is our state’s fiscal condition. In order to improve our dismal fiscal situation, it is imperative that we finally get control of the ever-underfunded pension program. In order to do that, we must find dedicated revenue sources to correct our pension liabilities. If we do not address this dire situation, it will continue to drain the state’s annual budget and take away from needed services and operations of state government, which will continue to force us to raise our property taxes.” Quite right.
He also had some interesting things to say about the Bears’ long dance with Arlington Heights: “Whether or not the Bears choose to build there, there should be secondary plans of a mixed use area, but with more commercial than residential use.”
We think Schlenhardt, who answered all our questions in detail, has good, commonsense ideas (especially when it comes to education funding) and would be a fine fiscal watchdog in Springfield and an effective check on free-spending Democrats.
Tom Schlenhardt is endorsed.
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