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Blog: State Rep. Rita Mayfield, Former State Sen. Miguel del Valle Endorse Ilya Sheyman for Congress

February 20, 2012 – 5:10 pm

Legislators say Sheyman’s progressive track record makes him best candidate

Former State Sen. Miguel del Valle and State Rep. Rita Mayfield have endorsed Waukegan community organizer Ilya Sheyman for Congress in Illinois’ 10th District, building Sheyman’s momentum after he announced that last week was his best ever for fundraising, bringing in $100,000 in just ten days.
Del Valle, seen as a progressive movement veteran in Illinois, was the first Latino elected to the Illinois State Legislature, serving two decades in the State Senate and chairing the education committee before becoming the first Latino City Clerk of Chicago. In Springfield, del Valle helped found the Hispanic Caucus and the African-American Caucus.
Del Valle was a co-founder of the Coalition of Latinos and Jews.

“Ilya is a community organizer, and that’s how he’s been able to build such a powerful and diverse campaign focused on the people of the 10th District,” said del Valle. “Ilya is mobilizing real grassroots energy from all corners of the District, because he’s focused on bringing about real improvements in the lives of regular folks. That’s powerful. And it’s a much needed breath of fresh air in Illinois politics.”

Del Valle is a leading authority on education policy issues in the state. He is chair of the Illinois P-20 Council, which advises Governor Pat Quinn on education policy issues. He also serves as the vice-chair of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, the state agency dedicated to making college affordable and accessible for Illinois students.

“Senator del Valle is an elder statesman of Illinois progressive politics, and an invaluable leader in the effort to solve the challenges facing the public education system in our state,” said Sheyman. “I’m proud to have his support as we continue to activate voters in our campaign to rebuild the middle class and restore the American Dream.”

Rep. Mayfield represents the Illinois House 60th District, which lies within the 10th Congressional District. “Ilya Sheyman has always been a fighter and an advocate for the people of Waukegan and North Chicago,” said Mayfield. “His experience stands out in this election and we need his voice to put our communities back to work.”

Sheyman called Mayfield “an excellent public servant on behalf of the residents of Waukegan, North Chicago and Park City,” and said, “We are lucky to have her as our voice in Springfield, and I look forward to working alongside her to restore economic opportunity for people across our district.”

Sheyman, the former national Mobilization Director at MoveOn.org, led the progressive advocacy group’s 5 million members to rally for real health care reform in 2010, before launching his run for Congress. He previously worked as an organizer with education advocacy organizations A+ Illinois.Sheyman helped found Waukegan’s Community Connection Center, which helps connect local residents with governmental and social services. He teaches weekly job skills training workshops there for ex-offenders coming out of the criminal justice system.

Mayfield and del Valle are the latest in a wave of local and national endorsements for the progressive Democratic candidate, including Illinois Democratic Congressman Danny K. Davis, Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs Keith Ellison and Raul Grijalva, former Democratic National Committee Chair Gov. Howard Dean, Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, Waukegan Township Supervisor Patricia Jones, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Lake County Federation of Teachers Local 504 and President Mike McGue, AFSCME Council 31, the Ironworkers Local 1, the Transport Workers Union of America, the American Federation of Government Employees, Sheet Metal Workers Local 73, and the International Longshoremen’s Association–AFL-CIO, and a host of national progressive organizations, including MoveOn.org, with 12,000 members in the 10th District, Democracy for America, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee; the Wheeling Township Democrats, the Libertyville Township Democrats, and the New Trier Democratic Organization.

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Blog: Best Week Yet for Sheyman Campaign!

February 19, 2012 – 7:35 pm

We’re entering the final month before the election – and I wanted to take a moment to share some exciting news. We’re still waiting for the final count from our finance director, Erica, but it looks like we’ve just wrapped up our strongest week of fundraising yet – with an amazing $100,000 raised in just 10 days, and have now crossed 12,000 individual contributors!

This is a big milestone. We’re proving again and again that ours is the only campaign with the broad, energized base of support it’ll take to carry our progressive message through the primary election and on to defeat Republican Bob Dold.

Being a community organizer, I know that elections come down to numbers, so here are a couple more I wanted to share about the unstoppable people-powered campaign we’ve built together:

52,000 Voters

We’ve already reached an amazing 52,000 voters at their doors, on the phones, and in their living rooms – through dozens of coffees, meet-and-greets, and community service days – discussing the hopes, fears, aspirations and demands for your next member of Congress.

550 Volunteers

With just a month before our March 20th primary, we have not only launched an aggressive mail and television voter contact strategy, but we’re hitting the ground with our 550-strong team of volunteers to talk to tens of thousands of voters and get them to the polls.

Together, we’re building a campaign to take back the 10th Congressional District so that we can put the American people back to work, restore fairness to our economy, and invest in America again.

Thanks so much for all you’re doing – let’s get to work!

-Ilya Sheyman

Candidate for Congress

www.SheymanForCongress.com

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Blog: Schneider with Large Lead

February 16, 2012 – 11:39 pm

With just a month to go until the March 20th primary, Brad Schneider has pulled into the lead in the four-way primary. He leads all other candidates with 29% of the vote. His nearest rival, Ilya Sheyman, garners just 14% of the vote. John Tree and Vivek Bavda are far behind at 4% and 2%, respectively.

His lead is even larger among voters who voted in at least 3 of the last 4 Democratic primaries, voters age 50 and older, women, union households, Jewish voters and those who are strongly pro-choice.

Schneider has increased his name identification to 49% and enjoys a 29%-8% favorable to unfavorable rating. Sheyman has just 34% name identification. Schneider’s lead is not simply a reflection of his broader recognition. Among voters who know both candidates, Schneider leads 42% to 26%, indicating that Democrats will continue to prefer Brad Schneider as both candidates continue their communications.

Brad Schneider is building a solid campaign capitalizing on his superior financial resources. He had more than $450,000 cash on hand at the end of 2011. He is using those resources to build a solid field campaign and send direct mail. Schneider also enjoys the support of IBEW 134, Ironworkers 63, Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers District Council of Illinois, the Chicago Painters Local 147, the Transport Workers Union Illinois-Indiana State Conference, the Vernon Township Democrats, the Maine Township Democrats, State Representative Julie Hamos, Mayor Marty Moylan, State Senator Susan Garrett, State Senator Jeff Schoenberg, Congresswoman Melissa Bean and Congressman Steny Hoyer.

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Blog: Tree endorsements reach across 10th District and across the country.

February 15, 2012 – 3:00 pm

Showing remarkable momentum for a first-time candidate, Democrat John Tree released another round of endorsements from Democrats across Illinois’ 10th District.

On the heels of raising over $101,000 in just over 6 weeks before the most recent FEC reporting deadline, Tree added Former State Representative Mark Walker, Lake County Board Members Michelle Feldman and Angelo Kyle, and former Mayor of Waukegan and retired Colonel in the US Air Force Dick Hyde. These endorsements add to Admiral Joe Sestak and VETPAC, who endorsed Tree recently.

“John Tree is the only candidate in either party with business experience at the Fortune 500 and small business levels and the progressive values to fight for jobs and middle-class families in Congress,” said Former State Rep. Mark Walker.

“Colonel John Tree was outraged that Congressman Bob Dold and the Tea Party would threaten to shut down the government and leave our soldiers in the field and their families struggling at home without a paycheck. He will stand up to the Tea Party and bring sanity back to Washington,” said Lake County Board member Angelo Kyle.

“John Tree is the best candidate to beat Bob Dold because he has the business and military background to redirect wasteful Pentagon and special interest spending and invest it education and innovation to compete in a global economy,” said Former Waukegan Mayor and Retired US Air Force Colonel Dick Hyde.

National Endorsements
Former DNC Chair David Wilhelm
Patrick Murphy, Former Congressman from Pennsylvania and author of the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
Vice Admiral Joe Sestak, U.S. Navy (RET.) and former Congressman from Pennsylvania
VETPAC

Local Endorsements
Wheeling Township Democratic Organization
Mark Walker, Former State Representative
Michelle Feldman, Lake County Board Member
Angelo Kyle, Lake County Board Member
Dick Hyde, Former Mayor of Waukegan and retired US Air Force Colonel
Pete Couvall, former Vice-Chairman of the Lake County Democrats and Treasurer, Waukegan Democrats
David McArtin – Grant Township Democratic Committeeman
Rob Nesvacil – President of Wheeling Township Democrats
Kathleen Sances – Wheeling Township Democratic Committeewoman
Sue Walton – Palatine Township Democratic Committeewoman

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Blog: The Truth About This Primary

February 15, 2012 – 2:12 pm

Fellow 10th Dems,

Today, a very inconsiderate post found its way onto this blog, a post that was fueled by petty politics and failed to understand that great organizations like this one are here to unite Democrats in our area, not divide them.  There is nothing wrong with having a comfortable, honest dialogue about our candidates, their backgrounds and their beliefs, but we have to be mindful that the real opponent is Bob Dold (R-Pest Control Industry).  To slather vitriol on this blog (and do it in all capital letters as if written by an angry child) takes away from the quality of our debate and makes us look more and more like the tea party  and less like intelligent adults.

In the end, the citizens of the 10th District have a choice to make about which candidate they want to go to war with. That candidate is going to be facing an incumbent who is well financed , organized and fighting for his political life in a district whose values he does not come close to representing.  But, even more importantly, this entire election will be about one thing: The Economy.  Who can get us on track? Who can create jobs? Who can move America forward again?

Based on that criteria, the obvious choice is the candidate who has experience growing businesses professionally. A man whose entire career has been about looking at businesses and find ways for them to improve, leading to more jobs being created and more money flowing into our economy. We need a candidate who understands how to make government function efficiently, how to protect social security and medicare, and how to defend a woman’s right to choose.  On top of everything else, we need a candidate who will defend and strengthen the American commitment to Israel.

Brad Schneider is the person who fits this mold.  He has spent a lifetime working in business. He understands what it takes to create jobs and manage a balance sheet. He helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in support of the US-Israel relationship and has the experience of serving in leadership positions all throughout Chicagoland.

Ilya Sheyman may be bright, he may be impressive for his age, but being captain of Stevenson Debate for a year, sorting mail in the Obama Senate Office for a semester and organizing for a group that proudly produced this ad does not qualify you to be a Congressman. We need someone who can stand face to face with Dold and go after him on what he perceives to be his strength (small business and the economy) and turn it into a weakness.  Now is not the time to put our hopes into reclaiming this district behind someone with no definable history of leadership or tangible business experience.

This is our last chance to take down Dold before he is cemented as an incumbent, much like Kirk was.  While this primary should have a smart and honest debate between the candidates that looks at credentials and not inflammatory statements in caps-lock, we cannot take our eyes off the ultimate prize: making Robert Dold a one term Congressman.  The only way we can hope to achieve this feat is to nominate Brad Schneider, the only candidate who has a realistic chance to win in November.

 

 

 

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