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This Is Important To Me

This is not the first time you’ve heard this: elections matter. I founded the Gun Violence Prevention PAC because it became clear to me after years of fighting for responsible gun laws, the only path to victory was a gunsense majority.

Let’s start at the top. The gun lobby has spent unprecedented millions on a candidate determined to eliminate all gun free zones, putting all of us in danger all of the time. Hillary Clinton believes we can protect second amendment rights while at the same time preventing felons, terrorists and the dangerously mentally ill from buying guns. I agree.

Let’s talk about home. Chicago passed a grim milestone Monday night when the 600th person was shot and killed this year. Loopholes in our laws allow guns purchased legally here in Cook County to be passed on to criminals and gang members without accountability. We can’t close these loopholes because the gun lobby has a grip on too many lawmakers in Springfield.

It’s the same bullies at the national level and the state level.  I’m confident we can beat them here at home. All candidates on the list below are gunsense candidates. The highlighted names are votes that we can gain in the senate and house on November 8th. We need these votes. Let’s make it happen.

This work is hard and it will be a battle every year to elect and maintain a majority in each chamber. We can’t afford to quit because when we do, more lives are lost, more families are broken and more neighborhoods are ripped apart by the gun violence.

It happened to me. I don’t want it to happen to anyone else.

ILLINOIS SENATE-
Omar Aquino, 2; Patricia Van Pelt, 5; Heather Steans, 7; Christina Castro, 22; Corinne Pierog, 25; Kelly Mazeski, 26; Laura Murphy, 28; Julie Morrison, 29; Melinda Bush, 31; Christine Benson, 38

ILLINOIS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES –
Theresa Mah, 2; Cynthia Soto, 4; Juliana Stratton, 5; Sonya Harper, 6; Chris Welch, 7; Arthur Turner, 9; Ann Williams, 11; Sara Feigenholtz, 12; Kelly Cassidy, 14; John D’Amico, 15; Lou Lang, 16; Laura Fine, 17; Robyn Gabel, 18; Merry Marwig, 20; Barbara Flynn Currie, 25; Christian Mitchell, 26; Monique Davis, 27; Thaddeus Jones, 29; Elgie R. Sims, Jr. 34; Will Guzzardi, 39; Jaime Andrade, Jr., 40; Kathleen Carrier, 42; Anna Moeller, 43; Cynthia Borbas, 45; Deb Conroy, 46; Stephen H. Swanson, 48; Valerie Burd, 50; Martin Moylan, 55; Michelle Mussman, 56; Elaine Nekritz, 57; Scott Drury, 58; Angelique Bodine, 69; Kathleen Willis, 77; Greg Hose, 81; Stephanie Kifowit, 84; Bobby Pritchett, 94; Natalie Manley, 98; Carol Ammons, 103

This note will be on facebook. Please share, tweet and do all that stuff you do. Thanks and Peace,

Tom (Donate here.)

 

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Rick Ryan

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As the Lake County State’s Attorney, I am honored and humbled every day to lead the fight against crime, and to strive to ensure equal and just treatment under the law. I have been an attorney for twenty-two years – and each of those years has made me a stronger and smarter advocate for people, for ideas, and for the principles that unite us all.

I am so proud to lead an office of 140 dedicated colleagues who serve the public by prosecuting crime, advocating for victims, and planning crime prevention programs. I am also proud to work with hundreds of Lake County police officers on a daily basis to connect with every community and to develop comprehensive, holistic plans to respond to the mental health and economic crisis that arose from the COVID-19 pandemic.

On one particular day, July 4, 2022, I was saddened, inspired, and motivated by the bravery of so many people. We will always stand with the victims and honor the police and other first responders who ran toward the danger. Just as so many heroes that day thought only of themselves, I also witnessed the prosecutors in my office answer the call to serve survivors and their community – even on one of its darkest days.

Every moment that I have been your legal representative, I have worked tirelessly to oversee prosecutions and to implement policies that make my family and my neighbors safer in the short term and in the long term. That is the job of the State’s Attorney: to prosecute, to innovate, and to strategically plan.

I was raised in a small town. My parents are teachers, and from them, I learned that everyone must be treated equally and that America’s sacred mission is to provide a political, economic, and legal system that allows anyone to prosper regardless of the circumstances of their birth. After graduating from Knox College and the University of Chicago Law School, I spent two years at a first-rate civil law firm in Chicago where I learned that hard work and attention to detail on every case mean the difference between success and failure.

With my wonderful wife Stephanie, I am raising my two sons, Sam and Teddy, in Lake County. Nothing is more important to me than my family’s safety and I bring that passion and determination to protect all families with me to work every day.

I joined the Lake County Public Defender’s Office in 2003 and started my own law firm in 2009. From 2003 until 2020, I watched the Lake County legal system fail to prioritize violent crime, prevent wrongful prosecutions, or address racial disparities.

So, in 2019, I decided to run for State’s Attorney so that I could serve our community by improving a local legal system that cared more about covering up its mistakes and biases than uncovering new and innovative ways to help people.

I won the 2020 election, and became the first Democrat to hold this position in 40 years. Bringing in a new party wasn’t as important as ending 40 years of one mindset that had forgotten the people and that had failed to act urgently to develop new strategic plans to prevent crime while also ensuring that each prosecution is smart, moral, and just.

We have followed through on our promises. We have built the first-ever violent crimes unit, increased prosecutors in our domestic violence division, and vastly upgraded our cyber lab. Now, we have top-notch software and personnel to finally keep up with those who would exploit others.

We have been awarded a large federal grant to bring the first ever Human Trafficking Task Force to Lake County. We have deepened our investment in people by bringing in more victim specialists and raising the salaries of many of our prosecutors.

But the work goes on. We must expand our prevention efforts that are starting with the Gun Violence Prevention Initiative launched in 2022. And we know that the opioid crisis touches thousands of lives throughout this country.

I am proud to serve on the Executive Board of the Lake County Opioid Initiative which has been working tirelessly since its founding in 2012 to reverse a devastating trend of increased overdoses. In 2022, our office was part of a national settlement against opioid manufacturers and distributors.

As an attorney of 22 years, I have committed my life to helping people, and I have conducted over 70 jury trials in Lake County, and handled appeals that have culminated in over 20 oral arguments before the appellate court and Supreme Court of Illinois.

I see my time in this office as the next phase of helping a community that I love and where I have chosen to raise my family. In my first term, we have made Lake County safer and fairer through just prosecutions, constitutional policing, and innovative crime prevention policies.