Dupage Policy Journal

Supporting or opposing the "Defund the Police" crowd movement has emerged as the defining difference between Democrat incumbent  U.S. Representative Sean Casten (IL-06) and his Republican challenger, former Illinois Representative Jeanne Ives.

A June poll strongly suggests that the vast majority of U.S. residents oppose defunding police departments, but Casten has not publicly condemned the movement.

"He also voted against condemning the rioting, the looting, the destruction of personal property that has been going on," Ives said in a July 6 Facebook post. "He also voted against a resolution that would have called for justice in George Floyd's murder."

U.S. Representative Sean Casten | File Photo

Casten's procedural vote came after a Republican resolution against defunding police, Ives said in her Facebook post.

"Now the problem here is that the Democrats have said nothing about the defund the police movements," Ives' Facebook post continued. "Sean Casten has said nothing about the defund the police movements. Where does he stand? We don't know but what we do know is that he refused to join in with the Republicans to condemn such a movement. It's a dangerous idea to not have police. We all expect them to be there when we need them."

That post came just more than a month after a previous Ives Facebook post that called on Casten to openly disavow plans to defend police department.

Ives Represented state House District 42 from January 2013 until she left office in January of last year.

Illinois House District 42, located entirely within DuPage County and including all or parts of Carol Stream, Lisle, Warrenville, Wheaton, Winfield, West Chicago and Naperville, is currently represented by Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton).

Casten, a green energy entrepreneur with ties to Illinois' longtime and powerful state House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), won the 6th Congressional seat from then six-term Republican Rep. Peter Roskam in the November 2018 General Elections.

The 6th Congressional District includes parts of Cook, DuPage, Kane, McHenry and Lake counties.

Casten has come out in favor of police reform, including bans on chokeholds and ending no-knock warrants. He co-sponsored the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act (U.S. House Resolution 7120) – police reforms that passed the Democrat-controlled House on June 25.

"While this is a significant first step, we still have a long way to go to combat systematic racism across our country and I’m committed to the fight for equality," Casten said in a statement issued the same day H.R. 7120 passed the House.

H.R. 7120 now is stalled in the Republican-majority U.S. Senate.

On June 29, Ives issued a statement saying Casten "is dangerously out-of-touch with the reality facing families in the suburbs and Chicago" and specifically called him out for not clearly condemning movements to defund police department.

Defunding the police would be "a dangerous effort that could dismantle or disband police forces across the country," Ives said in her statement, in which she also accused Casten of "playing to a radical base."

"This is a dangerous game," Ives said in her statement. "I have dedicated my life to protecting American lives - in the military, as a mother, as a state legislator and now as a Military Mom. On Wheaton City Council and in the State Legislature, I looked out for the interests of those I represented. I am taking that record with me to Washington."

Casten has issued no comment in response to Ives' statement.