North Cook News

Weeks after being targeted with campaign mailers stating that she is nothing more than a stooge for Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, Jillian Rose Bernas is still waiting for an apology from her opponent, Charlotte Kegarise. 

The two are battling it out in the Republican primary for the 56th House seat in a bid to unseat four-term Democrat Michelle Mussman.

Bernas, 35, says that the House Republican Organization (HRO), the political arm of the House Republican leadership, orchestrated the mailers – one depicts her as a puppet on strings with Madigan as the marionette. HRO has pulled similar campaign tricks in other races against primary candidates not hand-picked by leadership to run for the seat.

Kegarise, 64, received over $40,000 from HRO in February alone, according to Illinois State Board of Elections records. 

 “She (Kegarise) says she has no control over this misinformation, but it is on her very own webpage and she works directly with the House Republican Organization,” Bernas said. “I believe she could have changed the trajectory of her negative campaign, but chose not to and now is playing the victim of this HRO campaign.”

Bernas is running on the platform that Springfield needs legislators to represent their districts not be beholden to the “political class.” She also wants to roll back the 32 percent income tax increase approved last summer and says she will work for term limits.

Earlier this week, the Daily Herald and the Chicago Tribune both endorsed Bernas over Kegarise.

The Tribune Editorial Board wrote:

“The state GOP organization is betting on Charlotte ‘Char’ Kegarise of Schaumburg, vice president of the elementary district school board. That board, however, for years awarded generous end-of-career pay raises to teachers and administrators in violation of state law. The district ended up paying $1.27 million in penalties, the highest in the Chicago area. Kegarise said it was a painful learning experience. We know it sure was for taxpayers. Jillian Rose Bernas, also of Schaumburg, is making her second run at the seat. She has demonstrated spending restraint on the library board on which she serves, voting against budgets she felt overspent and questioning the need for superfluous spending. Bernas has shown she is more attentive to property taxpayers. She is endorsed.”

The 56th District includes Schaumburg and parts of Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, Bartlett, Hanover Park, Palatine, Rolling Meadows and Roselle.