Chicago City Wire

Should Gov. J.B. Pritzker consider resigning?

Federal prosecutors are examining a $330,000 property tax break Pritzker received for his second home on the Gold Coast. He had five toilets removed, which allowed former Assessor Joseph Berrios to deem the house vacant and lower its assessment by 90 percent. Pritzker repaid the money as the 2018 campaign wound down.

As far as Ammie Kessem is concerned, Pritzker never should have been in office in the first place.

“It is almost unfathomable that the voters of Illinois voted this crook into office,” she told Chicago City Wire. “This scandal was well-known throughout the state and also the fact that he was/is hiding money in offshore accounts also to avoid taxes. Yet somehow, he was elected by the people.”

While the governor finds himself under scrutiny, Speaker Mike Madigan, who also serves as chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party, is fighting for his political survival.

Madigan has been identified as the target of a bribery investigation by federal prosecutors. Commonwealth Edison agreed to a deferred prosecution and will pay a $200 million fine for attempting to influence legislation, including bills related to state electric rates.

Madigan was first elected to the General Assembly in 1970 and has been speaker for all but two years since 1983. He has not been charged but his office has been ordered to hand over documents.

Prosecutors also are looking at the role of AT&T lobbyists in working closely with Madigan and his lieutenants.

The pieces are falling together, which Kessem is watching from dual perspective.

She is a 41st Ward Republican committeewoman and was a candidate for the 19th District seat in the Illinois House of Representatives in 2018. Kessem has combined her career in law enforcement — she is a sergeant in the Chicago Police Department — with a growing passion for politics.

The Chicago native is the vice president of the Northwest Side GOP Club, with the goal of making the local and state Republican Party an equal of the entrenched Democratic Party.

“Republicans must do better to get our message across,” Kessler said. “The last gubernatorial election created a divide among us and there is still a divide by those who consider themselves to be ‘Never-Trumpers.’

“The recent rioting and looting and anarchy that we have seen in the city of Chicago and across the country however, is something these voters cannot turn away from and if they do not start voting against this type of lawlessness that we have seen by the Democratic Party and leftist socialists, that anarchy will soon be knocking on their own front door.”

Kessem said the GOP can benefit once voters recognize the very real dangers they face.

“Voters have been warned,” she said. “I just hope they do not continue to disregard the trumpets that are sounding.”