Chicago City Wire

Citing a system of “smoke and mirrors” by career politicians, 19th District Illinois House candidate Ammie Kessem accuses her opponent of deception.

In an interview with the Chicago City Wire, Kessem said that although State Rep. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago) has been claiming a $225 property tax rebate, she knows of no one in the district who is eligible. 

In fact, she said most homeowners saw a $100,000 jump in their assessments this year.

“My opponent has been working behind the scenes with the county assessor, Joe Berrios, and even received $170,000 from him and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle for his 'consulting gig' with them,” Kessem told the Chicago City Wire.

“He failed to disclose this income on his state ethics forms, (and) then claimed the reason was because the form was too difficult to understand.”

Kessem was among a group of Republican lawmakers and general assembly candidates who attended a Sept. 19 press conference titled “Exposing the Mechanics of the Chicago Machine.”  

During the conference, the lawmakers and candidates discussed several examples of alleged deception, including Democrats blocking a bill to tie legislative pay to passing a budget, a tactic they said was also used by Democrats to win the comptroller’s office.

Kessem said in the interview that Martwick had used similar deception tactics, including an instance of claiming to support the elected Chicago Public School Board, but when the Board came up for a concurrence vote, he let it expire.

“But my opponent, Robert Martwick, made sure to send this out in a mailer to all his constituents that he supported an elected school board,” Kessem said. “Again, smoke and mirrors.”

Kessem and Martwick will face off on Nov. 6 for the District 19 seat, representing the city of Chicago and the communities of Leyden, Norwood Park, Elmwood Park, Harwood Heights, Norridge and River Grove.