Dupage Policy Journal

Hailing herself as someone “who sees the people she represents as the solution to many of the problems” they face, former GOP State Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton officially threw her hat in the ring July 23 against U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-Downers Grove) in Illinois' Sixth Congressional District.

Speaking before an enthusastic crowd at the Medill Room in Wheaton, Ives contrasted her style and vision to that of Casten, whom she argued sees the people of the district as “the cause” of the problems.

“I want to begin tonight with a very simple statement: I am proud to be an American,” Ives said in her speech. “We live in the greatest nation on Earth because we live as free men and women. The question before us today is whether our freedom is the source of what ails America, as Rep. Sean Casten believes, or the solution to what ails America, as I believe.”

Ives highlighted how Pro Publica reports Casten has a record of voting nearly 98 percent of the time “with the extreme left wing” of his party on almost every issue.

“Sean Casten uses hate to misdirect people’s attention away from his assaults on our freedoms and free enterprise system,” Ives added. "Sean Casten is not a reasonable person. He is a reckless, spiteful demagogue.”

Although Ives concedes she never came close to getting anywhere near all the legislation she wanted passed through Springfield, she emphasizes she never shied away from her values regarding government accountability and fiscal responsibility.  

“It’s tough to do that in the minority with a House speaker named [Mike] Madigan who operates in something less than good faith,” she said. “If I had, Illinois wouldn’t be the worst-run state in the nation.”

During the course of the evening, Ives also announced she has already secured the endorsements of Peter Roskam and Elizabeth Roskam. Peter Roskam served as U.S. representative in the Sixth Congressional District from 2007 to 2019.