North Cook News

Joan McCarthy Lasonde, the Republican candidate for U.S. representative in the 9th District, has plenty to say about her Democrat opponent, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, especially her recent instigation of the House sit-in after the Orlando shootings.

Lasonde said Schakowsky should be voted out of office for her behavior. 

Joan McCarthy Lasonde | Contributed photo

Schakowsky has been credited with organizing the sit in, which disrupted House business. In the meantime, when the cameras were turned off, the protesters used their cellphones to record the events and ask for donations.

In a recent op-ed written by Mark Glennon, founder of the web publication Wirepoints, he said he received emails from Schakowsky asking for donations.

“It’s been 24 hours and despite House Republicans’ best efforts, we’re still here, standing together and demanding that Speaker (Paul) Ryan allow a vote on common-sense gun-safety legislation,” Schakowsky said in one email. “The bottom line is our colleagues on the other side of the aisle aren’t listening, which is why we need your help. Can you click here to donate and help elect more Democrats who will put an end to the GOP’s obstruction?”

In another email sent to Glennon, Schakowky asked for donations again.

“I’m asking you while sitting here on the House floor: Will you support our fund to elect public servants willing to stand up to the NRA? We need to take action immediately,” Schakowsky said. “Chip in right now to help us make that happen.”

Lasonde found herself dismayed over the sit-in and Schakowsky’s behavior, and she said it definitely was a violation of House Ethics Committee rules.

“They clearly say that ‘congressional resources, including the physical space of the buildings, may not be used for political fundraising,’” Lasonda recently told North Cook News.

Lasonde said most House members play very strictly by those rules and actually walk across the street to separate offices to do fundraising.

“Not only did Schakowsky violate this rule, but she bragged about it in an email writing,” Lasonde said. “This is another example of the arrogance of power and long-term incumbents - believing they are the anointed - above the law. Schakowsky has been in political office for 26 years. She should follow the rules.”

In regard to her own thoughts on Orlando and the sit-in, Lasonde said the protest was the wrong way to go about it.  

“I happen to believe in stricter controls on sales of assault weapons, but the sit-in was an example of how not to get things done,” Lasonde said. “Schakowsky complained that the House adjourned without doing anything about guns. She should look in the mirror. Most of her colleagues were so disgusted with the sit-in and her history of over-the-top rhetoric that they can’t work with her - on guns or anything else. She’s polarizing. They think she’s obnoxious.”

Lasonde said she found the sit-in unbelievable, especially after the same people, including Schakowsky, complained about Republican obstructionism. Lasonde is offended that they shut down House operations this way.

“Some Republicans have indeed been obstructionist, but nothing like this sit-in ever happened before,” Lasonde said. “Schakowsky and her sit-in friends ‘threw the rulebook out’ - which is how the New York Times put it.”

Lasonde said Schakowsky used Orlando as a fundraising opportunity - emailing for cash from the House floor while wrapping herself in the Orlando tragedy.

“That’s disgraceful,” Lasonde said. “And if you really want to do something about partisan politics, then you have to embrace constructive engagement, not inflammatory methods and rhetoric. Most importantly, terrorism, to her, is just an issue of guns. That’s nonsense.”

Lasonde said that when one House member told the sit-in protesters that Orlando was about radical Islam, they called him a bigot.

“Shame on the protesters,” Lasonde said. “I’ll work for stricter controls on assault rifles, but I’ll negotiate rationally - by keeping guns in the proper perspective. Violence is more than guns.”

Lasonde said that when she is in Congress, she will follow the rules and work to get her colleagues’ respect, not their contempt. Her goal is to fight for common ground.

“On this, that means addressing both guns and radical Islam,” Lasonde said. “The shooter in Orlando was a U.S. citizen, but his father has long been an open Taliban supporter. A more rational immigration system might have kept him from coming from Afghanistan, and Orlando might never have happened.”

As for her opinion on Schakowky’s future, Lasonde said it is time for her to leave.

“Can anybody in her district name something Schakowsky has accomplished in her 26 years in office? Anything she wanted to do, she should have already done,” Lasonde said.

Despite her opinions about the sit-in and Shakowsky, Lasonde does not think a formal investigation would be beneficial.

“I see no point in bothering with a formal investigation, which could only worsen all the divisiveness in Washington,” Lasonde said. “I want voters to take care of this. All I want is for her to be called out for this kind of arrogance and hypocrisy, which hasn’t happened.”