Let’s Help This Young Candidate in The 1st Congressional District

Written by John Lopez

The January 3, 2022 announcement by 15-term U.S. Representative Bobby Rush (D-Chicago) he would not seek another term in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022 created an open seat in the 1^st Congressional District (IL-01) for the first time since the resignation of Congressman Harold Washington after his election as Chicago mayor in 1983.

This Congressional District stretches from the Chicago Loop, into the Southside including Hyde Park and the University of Chicago, into the South Suburbs of Cook County and stretches into most of Will County and into Kankakee County, as far south as the village of Bourbonnais.

No matter how one measures the new map, drawn by the supermajority Democratic Illinois General Assembly and approved on October 29 of last year, both major ratings services (Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball) rate the new IL-01 as strong/safe Democrat.

The ratings do not mean conservatives abandon any participation in the IL-01 election.

While the Democratic primary for the open seat will garner all of the attention through the June 28 primary, Republicans will want to nominate a proven, mainstream conservative who will advance the agenda, in spite of the ratings saying the Democratic primary winner can begin measuring their new Washington, D.C. office space.

Mr. Geno Young

Take ACTION: Illinois Family Action encourages participation in the electoral process, up-and-down the ballot, and in the 1^st Congressional District, and we are thrilled to encourage volunteer help for Geno Young of Chicago. Specifically, he would like help getting signatures on his nominating petitions before March 7th. If you are over 18 years old and can help get signatures, please download his petitions HERE.

In 2021, Young initially filed his Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to primary Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Channahon) due to Kinzinger supporting the impeachment of President Donald Trump in January of last year.

After the Illinois General Assembly approved the new congressional map, Young began talking to conservative and Republican groups about seeking election in the new IL-01.

On November 18, Young spoke about his congressional candidacy at a Will County event and caught the attention of David Lombardo, who hosts the pro-Second Amendment On Target Radio Show with co-host, Gretchen Fritz.  The following Sunday, Young appeared in-studio and discussed why he’s running for the IL-01.

Young has been working very hard garnering support to be on the primary ballot, through gathering petition signatures to secure his spot on the primary ballot, as well as being accessible for media interviews with anyone who will talk to him.

The filing of petitions for the June 28 primary ballot begins on March 7 and ends on March 14.

The November 21 interview with On Target can be viewed on YouTube here.

Young’s campaign website can be viewed here. And stay tuned for a future IFA SPOTLIGHT podcast interview with Geno too!

Other Republicans seeking IL-01 Nomination

Through February 14, two other Republicans are seeking election to IL-01, either declaring their campaigns online, or filing a Statement of Candidacy with the FEC.

Philanise White of Chicago, the 2020 Republican nominee against Congressman Bobby Rush, declared she is running again, now that the IL-01 is open.

White garnered 26.2 percent of the general election vote in 2020, while Rush won with 73.8 percent for his 15^th and now final term.

Applying discernment to White’s candidacy, in the 2020 election cycle she was linked with the QAnon conspiracy theory, due to two tweets, which are still online today in mid-February of 2022, where she uses the 7-character hashtag for the QAnon slogan, “WWG1WGA” (“where we go one, we go all”).

Due to her two mid-2019 tweets, White was labeled a QAnon candidate by Media Matters for America, and the Chicago Tribune editorialized in the fall of 2020 the fact White is tainted by her link to QAnon.

Additionally, White’s campaign website now claims her 2020 showing is the reason Congressman Rush chose not to seek reelection in 2022.  A discerning voter finds White’s claim hard to believe when Rush cruised to a supermajority reelection to his current and now last term in the U.S. House.

No, Rush turned 75 at the end of 2021 and after 30 years, he wanted to retire and chose to do so.

Honesty and integrity must be displayed by any candidate, and White’s record with flirting with QAnon and making false claim challenges a discerning voter to seek another candidate.

Eric Carlson, U.S. Army Veteran and non-profit organizer

In mid-January, Eric Carlson filed his Statement of Candidacy with the FEC declaring he’ll seek election as a Republican in IL-01.

Carlson, of the village of Lemont in Cook County, served our country in the United States Army, including as an Army Ranger in the 75^th Ranger Regiment. IFA is deeply grateful for Carlson’s service in the United States Armed Forces, and his service to the American people.

Carlson serves the community leading two non-profit organizations and is running under the slogan, “One People – One America – No More Bullsh**!”

This discerning voter has not heard, nor seen Carlson conducting interviews or speaking to local groups like Geno Young has done since late 2021.

Carlson presents an alternative to IL-01 Republican primary voters, and interested conservatives should check out his campaign website and apply discernment and through prayer, if called to help Carlson, then help him.

John Lopez has written about policy and elections through the McHenry County Blog since 2019. He is now semi-retired, and does freelance work with analytics, as well as political candidates, emphasizing policy as the means to advance the conservative message, by engaging through policy “dog fighting”, applying discernment for winning and advancing God’s Kingdom agenda.

John’s known for getting past the talking points, the narratives, the abstracts, the platitudes and the bromides in order to discuss policy and apply Scripture to overcome unholy divisions in the local community, our state, and nation.

John has been married for over 16 years.