Pekau to seek GOP nomination in redrawn 6th District
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau formally announced Monday he will run for Congress in the redrawn 6th District, saying he will adopt the fiscal responsibility the village has shown if elected.
The Republican accused Democrats such as incumbent U.S. Reps. Sean Casten and Marie Newman of putting “special interests, party politics and extreme left agendas ahead of the interests of voters.”
In Orland Park, “we have put the people first,” Pekau said, making his announcement at a small business in Lisle.
Elected to a second term in April, Pekau touted his record, including working to reduce village operating expenses and cutting debt. If elected, he said, he would fight inflation and reduce taxes.
“I will work to grow the economy and create good-paying, middle-class jobs,” the 55-yearold said.
The General Assembly approved redrawn congressional district maps that now make Orland Park and several other south and southwest suburbs part of the 6th District.
Along with Orland Park, other communities that are now in the 3rd Congressional District, represented by Newman, would shift into the 6th District.
The new 6th would also include all or parts of Alsip, Burr Ridge, Chicago Ridge, Clarendon Hills, Crestwood, Darien, Elmhurst, Hickory Hills, Indian Head Park, Justice, LaGrange Highlands, Oakbrook Terrace, Oak Forest, Oak Lawn, Orland Hills, Palos Heights, Palos Hills, Tinley Park, Western Springs, Willowbrook, Worth and extends north to Villa Park and west to Downers Grove. Areas near Midway Airport and a portion of Chicago’s Beverly community are also part of the new district.
While the new district excludes most of La Grange, Newman said she plans to run in the Democratic primary against Casten, of Downers Grove, next June.
Former state Rep. Jeanne Ives introduced and endorsed Pekau Monday, citing “extreme” Democratic policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic such as business shutdowns and vaccine mandates.
The result has been an “unprecedented usurpation of our rights and freedom,” she said.
“I want my freedom back,” Ives said.
In 2018, Ives lost in the Republican primary for governor, and in the November 2020 election lost to Casten in the 6th District race.
Pekau and the Orland Park Village Board have been highly critical of Illinois Democrats and particularly Gov. J.B. Pritzker regarding pandemic restrictions. Four village trustees joined the mayor at Monday’s event but did not speak.
The Illinois Democratic Party
issued a statement after Pekau’s’s announcement saying he is “wrong for Illinois families” and criticized him for a lawsuit the village filed against Pritzker.
Filed in federal court in June 2020 then withdrawn in early October, the lawsuit had accused the governor of violating the due process and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution in imposing business shutdowns during the height of the pandemic.
Pekau said he would do “the typical things” over the course of the campaign to get his name and message out beyond the southwest suburbs. He said when he challenged and defeated longtime Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin in 2017 he had to overcome a similar name recognition problem.
Candidates may begin circulating nominating petitions and collecting signatures from registered voters Jan. 13.
Candidates for the June 28 primary will file paperwork between March 7 and March 14, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Pekau said he didn’t see the rigors of a congressional campaign affecting his ability to fulfill his duties as mayor.
“I will still do both jobs,” he said. “There will be longer hours.”
The mayor’s pay and hours were cut following this spring’s election, which was a rematch that pitted Pekau against McLaughlin.
The job had a salary of $150,000, plus $3,000 a year for serving as the village’s liquor commissioner. As of this spring, the base salary was cut to $40,000, plus, the liquor commissioner pay, and the job cut to a part-time position.
Pekau had an event scheduled later Monday to formally kick off the campaign at Fox’s Pizza & Irish Pub in Orland Park. He said a fundraiser is being planned for sometime in December.
He declined to say what his fundraising goal would be or how much he felt the campaign needed to be successful.
At the end of September, Casten had $1.26 million available to his campaign while Newman reported having just under $438,000, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Pekau’s statement of organization was filed Nov. 15 with the FEC and Trustee William Healy is listed as the committee’s treasurer while Trustee Cynthia Katsenes has the title of assistant treasurer.
Pekau said his decision to seek the GOP nomination was “made in very quick fashion” once the new maps came out and he consulted with close friends and family.
An Air Force veteran, Pekau has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Arizona State University and a master’s in business administration from Duke University. He also owns a small business, Fahrenheit Consulting Group, that offers services to clients including manufacturers, Pekau said.
He had previously owned a landscaping company and said he decided to hold his campaign announcement at Alexander Equipment in Lisle, which sells and rents tree care equipment, in part because he was a longtime customer of the business.