Dupage Policy Journal

No stranger to hard-fought political races, congressional candidate Jeanne Ives’ (R-Wheaton) campaign to unseat U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-Downers Grove) in the 6th Congressional District has received valuable recognition from the National Republican Congressional Committee's (NRCC) Young Guns program.

“Being named to Young Guns 'On The Radar' status simply means we’ve put together a credible campaign team to win in November,” Ives told the DuPage Policy Journal. “We appreciate the recognition from national Republicans acknowledging that we have put together a team that now has a groundswell of support.”

The NRCC’s Young Guns program mentors and supports candidates in races across the country and works to provide them with the necessary tools to run successful, winning campaigns against their Democratic opponents, according to a press release from the Ives campaign. The program requires candidates to work toward specific goals and meet benchmarks throughout the election cycle to ensure their campaigns remain competitive, well-funded and communicative within their districts.

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

Ives, who served as state representative in the 42nd District for six years before narrowly losing out to then-Gov. Bruce Rauner in the 2018 Republican primary, was selected as one of 31 On the Radar candidates across the U.S.

“The power of my campaign is what we believe in and that I’ve proven myself to be a leader who is solution-oriented,” Ives said. “People know when I got into politics that I went into it to solve problems. I’ve defended taxpayers from scams perpetrated against them and will do so in Congress. That kind of message resonates no matter where you are.”

Ives says that Illinois is in a particularly vulnerable place right now given all the corruption in the state capital.

“When you’ve got everybody from the Democratic governor to all sorts of members of congress under investigation, it just tells you that we have a corruption problem,” she said.  “People know I oppose corruption and I have filed plenty of bills along those lines.”

The latest Ogden & Fry poll taken just before the holiday season found Ives holding a nine-point lead over Casten with her campaign having bagged early endorsements from Cook County GOP Chair Sean Morrison, Republican National Committeewoman Demetra Demonte, the Lake County Republican Party, Club for Growth, the House Freedom Caucus, FreedomWorks, the Susan B. Anthony List and Former Illinois Congressman Peter Roskam.