An acrimonious race in the 6th District

Two years ago, Casten flipped the seat to Democrats

Two years ago, Democrat Sean Casten was a political newcomer seeking to knock off a veteran Republican lawmaker in a suburban district that was a longtime GOP stronghold.

Casten used criticism of President Donald Trump, his expertise on climate issues and an appeal to moderate voters on social issues to defeat Peter Roskam, locking up a crucial swing district for Democrats during the 2018 midterms as they took control of the U.S. House.

The quest is different for Casten this time. The rookie congressman from Downers Grove is trying to hold on to his seat in the 6th Congressional District against an opponent much different from the polished Roskam.

The Republican candidate is the blunt-speaking social conservative Jeanne Ives, a former Illinois state lawmaker from Wheaton who gave then-Gov. Bruce Rauner a run for his money in the 2018 Republican primary for governor when she ran to his right.

Ives is banking that her anti-tax, small government and law-and-order messages will resonate with voters in the district that stretches through the western and northwestern suburbs, returning it to the GOP.

Casten, a former clean energy business owner, does not mince words about his opponent.

“The homophobia, the racism, the cruelty that has infected so many of her public statements, it’s who she is,” Casten said.

Ives is trying to brand Casten as a loose-lipped liberal, criticizing the congressman for his sometimes profane online persona and as someone who walks in lockstep with the left wing of the Democratic Party, positions she argues are out of step with the majority of a district made up of middle-class suburbs.

“We have big challenges ahead. It will take leaders of character to work with others to restore law and order, get our kids back in school, and get our economy growing again while taking care of our most vulnerable citizens,” Ives said during a recent League of Women Voters online forum.

Casten rebuffs Ives’ characterizations, arguing his positions on everything from how to handle the coronavirus pandemic to social issues to climate change make him more than qualified to remain to Washington.

“I am a member of Congress not because my views are at some crazy extreme but because my predecessor was doubling down on the extremism of Trump, and certainly my challenger is as well,” Casten said in an interview with the Tribune. “And that’s not where the American people are, and that’s not where this district is.”

The two candidates also offer stark differences on the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, issues of racial justice, how to address climate change and America’s path forward.

Casten blasts the White House and federal government’s response to the coronavirus, saying they dropped the ball on the early distribution of personal protective equipment and ventilators as the pandemic surged.

“Anyone who claims we’re doing a good job has got their head in the sand,” Casten said. “It’s shameful what we’ve done. If you assume that the United States is merely an average country, and I’d like to believe we’re exceptional, but assume that we are merely average, then 80% of those deaths were avoidable. That’s 160,000 Americans and counting that didn’t have to be dead right now.”

Ives is focusing more on the economic implications of the pandemic, getting businesses and schools back open.

Casten calls climate change the “existential threat we face as a species” and said the wildfires that are ravaging the West Coast, hurricanes hammering the Gulf Coast and flooding throughout the Midwest are “exactly what we knew was coming” without more decisive policy changes.

Ives said the climate has been changing for millions of years and policymakers need to act but “do so in a reasonable manner.” She also has poked fun at one of her opponent’s campaign ads, in which a bespectacled Casten is referred to as a business owner, scientist and “nerd.”

“Instead of a nerd who got nothing done, send a mom and a veteran with a record of leadership to Congress,” Ives posted on Twitter.

Casten said he believes the 6th District is a “proscience district.”

“When my opponent gets out there and denies science, she deserves exactly as much respect as someone who would deny gravity,” Casten said.

Unlike the midterms, when millions of dollars of campaign donations poured in on both sides to a race that both political parties viewed as crucial, Casten has a vast advantage in the money game, giving him a leg up heading into the home stretch as many voters begin filling out mail-in ballots and visiting early voting sites.

Casten’s campaign reported last week that it raised $1.1 million during the third quarter, with nearly $2 million cash on hand. The Ives campaign has yet to report its thirdquarter numbers ahead of the Oct. 15 reporting deadline. Through the end of summer, Casten had outraised Ives by about $2.3 million. Both candidates are hitting the airwaves and social media channels with advertisements. During two weeks in September, Ives spent more than $86,000 on local cable television ads.

In a recent spotlight on national races, the Congressional Leadership Fund, the Super PAC endorsed by House Republican leadership, launched new television ads in 21 House races. Ives did not receive backing, though the CLF did fund an advertisement aimed at boosting western Illinois Republican Rep. Rodney Davis in his race against Democrat Betsy Dirksen Londrigan.

And in another sign of the state of the race, Casten won the endorsement of former Illinois Republican Chairman Pat Brady. Ives recently secured the endorsement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

There also is a wide gulf between the two candidates’ views on race issues and the civil unrest that has roiled Chicago and cities across the nation.

“If you actually attended any of these huge Black Lives Matter protests, as I have and she hasn’t, you will see this amazing diversity of people standing up,” Casten said, “and I get a little bit choked up. … For the first time, the first meaningful way in our history, we’re seeing this amazing diversity of people standing up and having the empathy to look out for decency. That’s not about whether it polls well. That’s are you a good person.”

Casten added that “of course we condemn looting and violence.”

Ives has focused more on a law-and-order message.

“It’s pretty frightful out there,” she said. “When you look across the nation and you see what’s happened in Seattle and Portland, Kenosha and elsewhere, in our own streets of Chicago, it’s very unsettling to people. Businesses are afraid to open up. People are afraid to go down and visit Chicago at this point. And that is not right.

“If you’re not going to enforce the law,” she continued, “the lawlessness will continue.”

Libertarian Bill Redpath is also in the race. Redpath is emphasizing reduced government spending, tax reform and is a proponent of ranked choice voting.