Dupage Policy Journal

Congressional candidate Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) is blasting incumbent U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-Downers Grove) over what she considers his extreme views on almost every issue.

“Socialists like Sean Casten have driven the Democratic Party over the cliff,” Ives posted on Twitter about her 6th District opponent in November 2020. “He campaigned on moderation and independence, and is now forced to answer questions about why he hasn’t done more on issues like health care, jobs and the economy.”  

Ives also takes exception with Casten so hastily throwing his support behind an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, which she sees as coming at the detriment of all his other legislative responsibilities. In a YouTube video she also posted to Twitter, a narrator opines that “Casten promised problem-solving, not partisanship. Tell him to keep his promise and stop the impeachment.”

U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-Downers Grove)

Ives has previously criticized Casten over his enthusiasm for an impeachment.

"Sean Casten began pursuing impeachment before the transcript of President Trump’s July call with Ukraine President Zelensky was released, and before intel committees had obtained the whistleblower complaint,” she said in a press release.

Ives, who served six years as a state representative in the 42nd District before narrowly losing out to then-Gov. Bruce Rauner in the 2018 Republican primary, theorizes that Casten's inflammatory rhetoric is a smokescreen to detract the spotlight from his party's deficiencies.  

“Democrats in congress have no serious governing agenda,” Ives said in the press release. “They have no workable ideas to solve the problems with which most Americans are faced. So they are using a fanatical obsession with impeachment as cover.”