Illinois

The first thing people tell you when you decide to run for office is that you need a 30 second statement on why you are running. I am running for Congress in the IL 6th District because, just like many people in my District, I am pissed off.

When Dan Lipinski inherited his father's Southside Chicago district in 2004, he hadn't lived in Illinois in 15 years. He was a Tennessee conservative-- eventually he even voted for Tennessee Blue Dog Jim Cooer as Speaker instead of Nancy Pelosi-- but returned "home" to hold the family fiefdom. It's widely acknowledged that his corrupt father manipulated and subverted the Democratic process to get him into the seat.

Despite national outcry over a video showing aviation cops dragging a man off a plane at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, United Airlines insist they had every right to have the man removed, even if he had purchased his ticket with the expectation he would be able to fly to his destination without being violently manhandled.
After all, it’s all in the fine print.

Jason Van Dyke became the first Chicago police officer in history to be charged with murder for an on-duty shooting that left a 17-year-old boy dead.
And only because a judge ordered the release of the dash cam video that Chicago police had refused to release for more than a year.
Earlier today, prosecutors slapped Van Dyke with an additional 16 charges of aggravated battery with a firearm – one for each bullet he fired at Laquan McDonald  – whom police claimed had “lunged” at the cop with a knife. 

Do you get excited that Trump's approval ratings keep sinking and sinking in most polls? How about how much Americans dislike the congressional Republicans? Nice, huh? But, you realize, of course, that those same Americans rate the congressional Democrats almost as badly. Sometimes just 1 point better. The Democrats seem to revel in the idea of being the lesser of two evils and even seeing how far they can push the "evil" thing without being seen as worse-- or even just as bad-- as the Republicans.

In 2012 David Gill was one of the candidates Blue America was most enthusiastic about. He nearly defeated conservative Republican Rodney Davis in a swing district in central Illinois that begins up in Normal, western Bloomington and Champaign and heads south through Decatur to Calhoun and Jersey counties in the suburbs north of St. Louis.

This week, Blue America endorsed Geoff Petzel to represent Illinois' 6th congressional district in Congress, a seat currently held by conservative Republican Peter Roskam. The Chicagoland suburban district, which was Romney territory in 2012, voted for Clinton over Trump, 50.2% to 43.2%. The DCCC has given Roskam a free ride year after year but has finally vowed to prioritize IL-06 for the 2018 cycle.

IL-06- Peter Roskam (Trumpist) vs Geoff Petzel (progressive)Illinois' very gerrymandered 6th congressional district-- Peter Roskam's base-- was designed by the Democratic state legislature to be a safe Republican seat in order to suck Republican voters out of neighboring districts, turning IL-10, IL-08 and IL-11 safer for Democrats.

An Amtrak police officer was charged with first-degree murder for shooting a man in the back after confronting him for smoking marijuana in a Chicago train station.
Laroyce Tankson, 31, turned himself in on Thursday after a warrant was issued for his arrest for the February 8 shooting that took place outside Union Station. His bond was set at $250,000.
The victim, Chad Robertson, 31, had no weapons or a criminal record when he shot. All he had was a small amount of weed.

A jaywalking Chicago cop became upset at a group of motorcyclists speeding through city streets, so he tossed a hot cup of coffee at one of the bikers.
Apparently, the cop was unaware the biker was recording him, capturing the incident on video.
“I got you on camera, bro,” said the man who goes by Elijah Bling on Facebook. “Yeah, I got you.”
The man then speeds away with the other bikers as the video cuts out.