Illinois House endorsements in 27th, 29th, 31st, 35th, 49th, 76th

We continue with our endorsements in contested primaries for the Illinois House of Representatives.

27th District

This majority Black district includes South Side neighborhoods such as Auburn Gresham, Morgan Park, Beverly, Roseland, West Pullman and Washington Heights, as well as south suburbs including Alsip, Crestwood, Robbins, Blue Island, Orland Park, Palos Heights and Palos Park. Democrat Justin Slaughter has been the representative since 2017 and is running for reelection. His challenger is Tawana (TJ) Robinson, a special education teacher in Chicago Public Schools.

Slaughter, the chair of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, is a well-regarded House member. He’s been a leader on criminal justice reform in Springfield and co-sponsored the Safe-T Act, which eliminated cash bail and set new standards for pretrial detention of those accused of violent crimes. He says the most pressing issue in his district is gun violence and was a leader in enacting the Reimagine Public Safety Act, which invests in programs to steer potential violent criminals into productive pursuits.

Robinson’s platform is skimpy, and she doesn’t lay out a compelling rationale for unseating Slaughter, who ably represents the interests of his district.

We endorse Justin Slaughter.

29th District

The 29th covers a stretch of the south suburbs including Calumet City, Harvey, South Holland and Chicago Heights and Crete-Monee. After the last redistricting, communities to the south such as Peotone were added to the district. Representing the district since 2011 is Thaddeus Jones, who also serves as the mayor of Calumet City.

In both roles, Jones has been a source of controversy. In 2022, the Tribune reported federal investigators were probing Jones for potential tax violations involving his campaign funds. There have been no charges brought so far in that investigation. More recently, as Calumet City mayor, Jones made a fool of himself, garnering national attention in the process, for moving to cite a Daily Southtown reporter for alleged “interference/hampering of city employees” tied to asking repeated questions about stormwater facilities and floods.

Jones reflects poorly on the district and Calumet City, and voters would do the region a service by removing him. Opposing him in the primary is Gloria White, 60, a retired executive payroll specialist at FedEx and a Calumet City resident for three decades. Political involvement is a late career move for White, who is trustee for Thornton Fractional Schools and secretary for the Southland Northeast Chamber of Commerce.

“People are afraid of him,” White tells us about Jones. “We have to come together to say enough of this foolishness.”

White’s campaign emphasizes protecting women’s reproductive rights; combating gun violence both by attacking root causes of crime and giving police more enforcement tools; and promoting small business through greater access to grants and loans, as well as providing better understanding to businesses of government procurement rules. In short, it’s a platform well-tailored to the district.

It’s past time for a change for this district, and we think White is worth supporting in her own right, not just because of the incumbent’s negatives.

Gloria White is endorsed.

31st District

This South Side and south suburban district includes portions of Englewood, Auburn Gresham and Wrightwood in the city, as well as parts of Oak Lawn, Evergreen Park and Hickory Hills. For nearly four decades, Rep. Mary Flowers has represented the district.

Flowers is the longest-serving Black lawmaker in Illinois history. She also is a political target of a fellow Democrat, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, who is backing a primary challenge to her from Michael Crawford, dean of The Chicago School, a private college focused on psychology.

This is one of the most closely watched primary battles for the General Assembly this cycle and a test of Welch’s influence. He has enlisted private sector unions to contribute hundreds of thousands to Crawford’s campaign.

Welch has cited boorish and uncivil behavior from Flowers — most notably her comment last year to a staffer that he looked like Adolph Hitler — and nearly a year ago removed her from her Democratic leadership post and barred her from Democratic caucus meetings. Flowers told the Chicago Sun-Times she believes Welch’s real motive is her support for his staff’s unionization efforts.

From a policy point of view, there aren’t significant differences between these candidates. There are other things to consider, though. One is whether Flowers simply has been in the seat long enough and has become too erratic in terms of her temperament. Another is the poor optics of the Illinois speaker calling on unions to finance a primary race as a personal favor. The Democrats in Springfield are too close to powerful private and public sector unions as it is. What will Welch owe these unions in return?

Among the generous givers is the Illinois political action committee for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which donated $68,500 on Feb. 1. IBEW is in Springfield asking Democrats to reverse decisions made by state utility regulators to rein in electricity rate hikes.

We’re not happy with either choice for the reasons stated above and won’t make an endorsement in this race. But we will expect Speaker Welch to be clear with the unions financing this challenge not to expect any special favors in return.

35th District

Rep. Mary Gill was appointed a year ago to represent this district, which includes the Southwest Side neighborhoods of Beverly and Mount Greenwood, as well as southwest suburbs including Alsip, Worth, Palos Heights and Orland Park. She succeeded Fran Hurley, who stepped down after Gov. J.B. Pritzker appointed her to the Illinois Labor Relations Board. Gill, a Democrat, is running for election in her own right; her opponent is David Dewar, a financial adviser who has run in the past for this seat and also for 19th Ward alderman in Chicago.

True to a district that’s home to many Chicago police officers and their families, Gill has represented law enforcement’s interests in Springfield. She has decried the Chicago Board of Education’s decision to remove all uniformed cops from city high schools even if the Local School Councils representing those schools still want them — a position with which we agree.

Dewar, among other things, says he would file a bill to eliminate Illinois’ designation as a sanctuary state and to restore cash bail, which judges no longer can impose on criminal defendants under the Safe-T Act.

We think Gill shows promise as a lawmaker and is in tune with the desires of her district.

Mary Gill is endorsed.

49th District

This district covers several suburbs in western DuPage County, including parts or all of West Chicago, Bartlett, Elgin, South Elgin, Batavia, Aurora and Naperville. Two Republicans are vying to challenge the Democratic incumbent, Maura Hischauer. They are Aris Garcia, a 24-year-old human resources manager for Avlon Industries, and Hannah Billingsley, 36, owner of MOD Sportswear in West Chicago.

Garcia, a self-described champion of conservative values, supports lower taxes and would back creating a local property tax task force to proactively give constituents information on ways to reduce their property taxes.

Billingsley also believes Illinois’ tax burden is too high and supports a statewide audit of school systems’ spending, an idea we think is good since schools consume the majority of property tax revenue. As a small business owner, she emphasizes support for businesses and job training.

On taxes, Billingsley tells us she’s from Florida originally and her parents still live there. “Even though my parents’ home is 50% bigger than mine, my property taxes are five times more than their property taxes,” she says.

Addressing wasteful spending in the schools and policies to encourage more robust business growth will help keep taxes more manageable, she says.

Billingsley is exactly the kind of candidate Republicans need to compete better in suburban Chicago.

We endorse Hannah Billingsley.

76th District

In a sign of these gerrymandered times, this is the only House district statewide featuring primaries in both races. The district is centered in DeKalb, home to Northern Illinois University, and includes surrounding communities. Three Democrats — DeKalb Mayor Cohen Barnes, DeKalb Ald. Carolyn “Morris” Zasada and Amy “Murri” Briel — are running. Briel is the chief of staff to retiring Democratic Rep. Lance Yednock. On the GOP side are Liz Bishop, a retired bank examiner and Crystal Loughran, a teacher who works for Northern Illinois as a tutor to elementary school kids.

In the Democratic contest, all three are impressive, moderate candidates with solid ideas for economic development in the area and strong backing for women’s reproductive rights. Barnes can boast of a solid record of reducing property taxes in DeKalb. Briel, given her work in Springfield, is expert on the workings of the Capitol and how to get things done there. As a real estate agent, Zasada supports making homeownership realistic for more residents of the district. Democratic primary voters can’t really go wrong with any of them.

We endorse Cohen Barnes based on his mayoral record and impressive property tax reductions.

On the GOP side, Bishop is the clear choice. In addition to lowering property taxes — a common theme for both parties — she supports reinstating the Invest in Kids tax credits and toughening the Safe-T Act to revoke pretrial release when defendants violate the terms of that release. She pledges to work across the aisle on issues where there’s common ground to be found. Loughran is more conservative, emphasizing gun rights and criticizing wind farms on rural land, for example.

We endorse Liz Bishop.

Editor’s note: The Tribune editorial board’s endorsement in the 36th District is coming soon. We are doing further reporting in that race.