Chicago City Wire

Candidate for the District 4 seat on the DuPage County Board Hadiya Afzal (D-Glen Ellyn) found it funny. For a time, anyway, but then things got serious for the self-proclaimed activist. 

What Afzal said she found so amusing was a video of a law enforcement officer in Portland, Oregon, struck in the face by a projectile during a protest that turned violent.

“I’ve been watching this on repeat for 15 minutes and laughing every single time,” Afzal posted on Twitter on July 26.

Jeanne Ives | File photo

Chicago businessman Jeffrey Carter is among those who does not see the humor. He said it reveals a great deal about the state of the Democratic Party.

While Afzal at first said her words had been “taken out of context,” she then apologized and withdrew from the race.

“As a young activist, I made the decision to run for office in DuPage County Board District 4 to bring progressive policy changes for the community I grew up in and care deeply for,” she wrote. "Early Sunday morning, I posted a personal tweet regarding the protests in Portland, Oregon. My post was in poor taste and doesn’t reflect the values I was raised with and hold dear. I do not support or condone violence in any form. I appreciate and support the role that law enforcement plays in keeping our communities safe.”

Although there were numerous critics of her post, U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-Downers Grove), a liberal ally of Afzal's, was not among them. He has been silent on the matter.

“I think Casten is afraid to speak up,” Carter told Chicago City Wire. “He rarely if ever has ideas of his own. When the Democratic apparatus says ‘Jump,’ Casten asks, ‘How high?’”

That’s one reason Carter would like to see Casten replaced by Sixth Congressional District candidate Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton), a West Point graduate who served as an Army platoon leader in Germany and as an ROTC instructor at Wheaton College. Ives served three terms as a state representative from District 42. 

She sharply criticized Casten for his silence.

“Once again, Congressman Sean Casten — who represents most of DuPage County — is AWOL when members of his party should be held accountable,” Ives said. “He said nothing about Afzal’s disgusting comments.”

She noted that Casten and Afzal belong to the new Democratic Party that assumed power in DuPage in 2018 aided by the progressive organization Indivisible DuPage. It helped him win the Sixth Congressional District seat that has been held by Republicans for five decades.

“Like Afzal, Casten has his own record of intemperate comments,” Ives said. “Like Afzal, Sean Casten uses hate to misdirect people’s attention away from his assaults on our freedoms and free-enterprise system. Unlike Afzal, Casten has received no scrutiny from the media nor has he faced any accountability from his peers.”

Carter said he has faith Ives will do what she thinks is right if she is elected to Congress.

“Ives has shown courage and will break with her party,” he said. “Casten never has.”

Carter co-founded the venture capital firm Hyde Park Angels and the financial technology startup company West Loop Ventures. He writes about ideas, issues and his personal life on his blog Points and Figures.