North Cook News

Anthony Beckman prefers doing things in a particular way.

Prior to turning to politics, the veteran police officer and former semipro football player excelled in disciplines where his straightforward “all in this together” approach served him well.

Now he says he wants to give something back to Norwood Park Township and the Republican Party he calls home.

Anthony Beckman

“I want to be a strong voice and help get the Republican agenda out here in Illinois,” Beckman, who is running for Norwood Park committeeman in 2018, recently told the North Cook News. “We need that in Illinois with the way high taxes and bad policies are hurting the middle class and small-business owners.”

Beckman’s campaign will be his first run at public office, but he insists he’s hardly a novice on the issues most important to the residents of Norwood.

“We all would like to see the new soda tax go, and the 32 percent tax increase imposed as part of the new state budget is even more outrageous,” he said. “In the end, I want to attract more businesses to the community. I think my history of working with people and working in team environments will go a long way toward making that happen.”

Beckman said when he surveys the state and considers all that’s gone wrong over the years, he always comes back to one irrefutable factor.

“I think the Democratic Party has had a strong hold on Illinois for too long, especially the city and Cook County area,” he said. “I think you can trace that back to a lot of what’s gone wrong: things like the pension problem and workmans' compensation issue. We have people that have been in office for too long, and now they only think of helping themselves when implementing policy. We need to drain the swamp here in Illinois.”

Beckman said his campaign will work closely with that of Aimee Kessem, who will oppose Rep. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago) in the 19th District next year.