Two years after Abdelnasser Rashid knocked longtime incumbent State Rep. Mike Zalewski out of the Democratic primary to set him on a path to the General Assembly, he’s now facing a challenge of his own.
He’s defending his seat from former Chicago police detective Vidal Vasquez the 21st District, which covers much of Riverside and the southern portion of Brookfield.
Another candidate who filed to run, Matthew Synowicecki, dropped out of the race shortly after his petitions were challenged. Vasquez barely survived a petition challenge from Rashid supporters.
This is the 62-year-old Vasquez’s second political race. In 2003, the resident of the southwest side of Chicago ran for alderman of Chicago’s 23rd ward, where he was trounced by former Ald. Michael R. Zalewski, the father of the former state representative. Vasquez received only 18.31% of the vote. Vazquez, who now works as an Amtrak police officer after a 32-year career with the Chicago Police Department, said that race soured him on running for office for some time, but now he has decided to make another run for office.
Vasquez said that he is running against Rashid because he believes Rashid has not been active in the district and is more focused on Palestinian issues than the nuts and bolts work of being a state representative.
“He’s got another agenda and it’s not here, it’s not in this district,” Vasquez said.
Vasquez got a boost recently after he was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune, which had endorsed Rashid two years ago. This time, the Tribune wrote that Rashid’s intense interest in pursuing a cease-fire in Gaza and American foreign policy suggests that he should pursue another job.
Rashid, the first Palestinian American elected to the Illinois General Assembly, rejects the criticism that he is ignoring his job in the legislature.
“That’s completely baseless,” Rashid said. “I’m really proud of the work that I’ve done in my first year and the work we’ve done in the district. I’ve passed five bills into law, made sure to bring money to the district to fix some of our infrastructure. We helped people recover from the disastrous flooding last year. We’ve had dozens of events and coffees with the representative and workshops that support people in many different ways and my office has helped resolve hundreds of cases of constituent services so my record speaks for itself. And you can walk and chew gum at the same time. You can serve your district and try to stop the genocide that’s happening as we speak.”
The bills Rashid sponsored that became law were bills to promote affordable housing, increase state aid for school districts that offer dual language programs, create a state wide task force on artificial intelligence (Rashid was named the co-chair of the task force), streamline the state’s small business procurement process, and a create a check box for Middle Eastern and North African ethnicity on state agency forms.
Rashid also rejected the Tribune’s reason for not endorsing him.
“Honestly the reasons they cited for not supporting me are a badge of honor,” Rashid said.
Rashid said that most people in the district agree with his call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.
“It’s also really been heartwarming to hear from people on their solidarity and support for what I’m doing on Palestine,” Rashid said. “In fact, our polling shows that the district overwhelmingly supports what I’m doing fighting for Palestinian rights and that’s not surprising because polls across the country have shown that the American people, both Democrats and Republicans, want a cease-fire.”
Vasquez calls himself center-left and criticizes the progressive Rashid for supporting the SAFE-T act, which eliminated cash bail, and for failing to support the Invest in Kids tax credit program that gave tax credits to donations to a scholarship fund for low-income families of students who attend private schools. The Invest in Kids programs is expiring this year after the Illinois General Assembly failed to extend it.
“It gives some parents the opportunity to choose what school they send their kids to,” said Vasquez, noting that he could afford to send his children to Catholic schools and that less fortunate parents should have the same opportunity.
Vasquez also said that he supports reinstating cash bail saying that he would like to reform the SAFE-T Act saying that most people don’t feel safe anymore because people who get arrested can get out of jail too easily.
Rashid said that he supports more equitable funding for public schools lowering the property tax burden so he did not support the Invest in Kids program which reduces state tax revenue. Rashid also defended his record on public safety.
“I’m proud of my record fighting for public safety,” Rashid said. “I voted for a budget that invested in violence prevention, voted for a bill that would keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and am a co-sponsor of the bill that would provide law enforcement with zero-dollar co-pays for mental health treatment.”
Vasquez, who has yet to report any campaign donations, is at severe financial disadvantage in the race. He said that Rashid’s petition challenge delayed his race and scared off potential supporters, especially among elected officials and campaign contributors. He claims that some politicians who were open to supporting were instructed not to by leaders in Springfield. Rashid’s campaign, whose treasury has been bolstered by five-figure campaign contributions from the campaign fund of House Speaker Chris Welch, has been sending out a lot of direct mail to voters.
Vasquez, who said that he will spend about $10,000 on the race, is relying on a grassroots door-to-door campaigning, something the Rashid campaign is also doing.
“I’m pressing the flesh,” Vasquez said.
In 2008, Vasquez was named as one of 46 Chicago Police officers in an excessive force lawsuit relating to damage caused in a no-knock search of a home on the South Side of Chicago. The case was settled for $30,000.
Vasquez said that the high number of officers named in the lawsuit and the low amount of the settlement indicates that it was what Vasquez called a “nuisance lawsuit” that the city settled only because settling was cheaper than going to trial.
“If my name is in there that means I was somewhere around this incident,” Vasquez said, adding that he did not remember the details.
Incumbent vs. moderate in the 4th Congressional District
In the 4th Congressional District 15th ward, Chicago Ald. Ray Lopez is challenging three-term incumbent Jesús “Chuy” García. Lopez is running as a moderate and claims that García is too far left, but it doesn’t appear as if Lopez has raised enough money to seriously challenge García.
Lopez wants to end Chicago’s status as a sanctuary city and has raised concerns about the cost of supporting recent migrants, many of whom have been bussed to Chicago by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
“I think the primary difference between Chuy García and myself is that Chuy is an open-border Democrat who has forgotten about everyone here who has waited for help,” Lopez said in a recent interview aired on CBS News Chicago.
García said that Lopez is repeating Republican talking points and trying to create fear.
Lopez rejected the charge that he is more like a Republican.
“I’m a Democrat born and raised on the Southwest side. I’m not playing to the extreme, I’m not trying to out crazy the crazies and out left the left,” Lopez said. “I’m focusing deal in the middle because that’s how I was raised.”
García has called for a cease-fire in the war in Gaza while Lopez has been supportive of Israel.
“Alderman Lopez is a confused Democrat who seeks to get as much publicity as possible, wherever there’s is a camera he’ll be there,” García said. “My question is what have you delivered. My record is consistent, it’s long and it’s principled.”