Dupage Policy Journal

Republican Congressional candidate Jeanne Ives spoke out against extremism in the Democratic Party in DuPage County, saying members of the party should be holding their own accountable for their actions.

Ives, who is running for District 6, was speaking about Hadiya Afzal, who withdrew from the DuPage County Board race after she had tweeted about laughing about the assault of a police officer during a riot.

"Once again, Congressman Sean Casten — who represents most of DuPage County — is AWOL when members of his party should be held accountable," Ives said in a news release. "He said nothing about Afzal’s disgusting comment."

Ives said that Casten, a Democrat from Downers Grove, also refused to call for House Speaker Mike Madigan's (D-Chicago) resignation when he was implicated in bribery charges in a federal investigation.

"When Joe Biden’s role in the illegal unmasking of General Michael Flynn was revealed, Casten said nothing," Ives said in the news release. "When allegations of sexual assault were levied against his endorsed candidate for president, Casten said nothing. When a Democrat state representative staged a mock assassination of the president at a fundraiser, Casten said nothing."

Casten and Afzal are associated with a far-left organization called Indivisible DuPage, the news release states. It alleges that Afzal and Casten have histories of making intemperate comments and using hate to misdirect the attention away from other issues.

Ives notes that Casten has not received scrutiny from the media and hasn't had to be held accountable to his peers for his actions. The news release alleges that he has used expletives and name-calling and has likened President Donald Trump to a terrorist. It also notes that Casten even once bragged about using Twitter to be a cyberbully to his political opponents.

“My husband and I raised our family in DuPage County for nearly 30 years,” Ives said in the news release. “Reasonable people can disagree on policy and politicians but there can be no disagreement with the disgusting nature of those remarks. This is a nice, neighborly community, with safe streets and good schools. I spent almost 2 years on Wheaton City Council and 6 years in the state legislature standing up for the families and businesses in DuPage County — against both parties — to keep DuPage a safe, thriving and peaceful community."

Ives said that Casten, Afzal and Indivisible DuPage represented extremism.

"But do they represent our community?" Ives said in the news release. "Is this hate and animosity really the new DuPage County? We will find out in November.”