Rahm Emanuel for Mayor

G-PAC is proud to announce our endorsement for Rahm Emanuel for re-election. It was an easy decision for us – Rahm has worked his entire career to protect children and families by reducing gun violence. He has been a reliable, consistent and innovative leader during some of our most challenging times and through our biggest victories.

Victims and Father Pfleger standing with G-PAC at St. Sabina.

Rahm’s first big fights on reasonable gun safety reforms came in the 1990s when he worked for President Bill Clinton. As part of his job, Rahm was responsible for helping to pass landmark gun safety reforms: the Brady Bill that instituted federal background checks and the assault weapons ban.

Those fights weren’t easy, and they weren’t settled on the first round. But Rahm stuck with them for round after round until our country enacted the most effective gun safety reforms in our lifetimes.

Rahm’s efforts are critical to our mission of reducing gun violence for all the families of Chicago. In January 2014, we were all frustrated and disappointed when a federal court forced the City to allow gun sales within the city limits. Rahm didn’t take the decision lying down –  he took action by passing a new city law regulating gun sales. The law incorporates evidence-based, best practices from around the country that have been proven to deter illegal trafficking from gun stores.

Under the Mayor’s leadership, Chicago now has the toughest law in the country. In Chicago, gun stores have to train employees to spot and deter traffickers, keep records of guns recovered in crimes, videotape the point of sale, and take steps to make sure their store is protected from theft.

According to a report released last year, 40 percent of the guns recovered by the Chicago Police Department each year were originally sold by gun stores here in Illinois. Over 3,000 guns recovered by CPD in the last 5 years were originally sold by just four retail stores.

Think about those numbers for a minute – and realize how much good we can do with strong leaders like Rahm and a reasonable statewide solution.

We need the state to regulate these gun shops and make sure they are taking basic steps to deter illegal gun traffickers.

These safety measures are a major priority for G-PAC and we know that Rahm will be fighting with us shoulder-to-shoulder, like he always has. Rahm is the only candidate with a 20-year record of taking on the NRA, passing meaningful gun legislation and putting together a plan to reduce gun violence in all our neighborhoods. We are proud to endorse him.  Don’t wait until the 24th – vote today.

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.