Chicago City Wire

Ammie Kessem said Gov. J.B. Pritzker is failing his most-important duty: Adhering to the Illinois Constitution.

Kessem, a Chicago police sergeant elected in March as the 41st Ward Republican committeeperson, said Pritzker needs to make tough but necessary decisions as Illinois faces dire economic times. Instead, he plans to move forward on $216 million in pay raises for state employees.

She says those state workers are not showing a lot of character, either, by endorsing a delay in the pay hikes.

“From what I am seeing, public sector employees are just fine with the governor’s comment: That’s not something we’re currently having discussions about,’” Kessem told Chicago City Wire.

Pritzker said that the raises are part of contracts negotiated with workers that cannot be halted.

“It is absolutely amazing to me that this governor holds that position more importantly than upholding our own state’s Constitution, something he took an oath to do on the day he was sworn in,” she said. “Just shameful.”

Changing the way politics and government work is why Kessem, a Chicago native, decided to get involved in it two years ago. She ran for the District 19 seat in the Illinois House of Representatives in 2018 but fell to incumbent, Robert Martwick, 60.7 to 39.3 percent.

She decided the Chicago Republican Party needed to strengthen its roots, so she sought the committeeperson post, although she prefers the traditional “committeeman” title. 

On March 17, she defeated longtime incumbent Michael McAuliffe and said she wants to build a GOP that can compete for legislative seats and help set state policy.

As a police officer, Kessem has mentored gang members and tried to guide them to better, more productive paths in life. A mother of three, she earned a bachelor's degree in American studies, sociology and business administration from Dominican University in 1998. Kessem believes she understands people, politics and the reality of Illinois government.

That is why it’s easy to understand why Pritzker will not back away from the pay raises, said Kessem, who also serves as vice president of the Northwest Side GOP.

“That being said, the Democrats have the public sector employees in their back pockets,” she said. “Since I am a public sector employee myself though, I made a suggestion on social media yesterday that I would gladly give up my 2-3% raise this year to help the citizens of this state and guess what: I was crucified for it by other public sector employees and their spouses.”

Kessem said that behavior was very revealing.

“I must say, this situation has really shown people for their true colors and I am very saddened by this ‘I got mine’ mentality,” she said. “On the flip side, it’s also shocking how many American citizens believe that the United States Constitution should mean nothing when it comes to these executive orders. Our governor is behaving like a dictator and very few people even care. Very scary times we are living in.”