North Cook News

Former House District 17 candidate Jim Geldermann says State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview) and State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview) are attempting to silence oppositional voices in Illinois and have contributed to an environment where dissent from Democratic Party positions is labeled as "hate speech."  

The latest example, according to Geldermann, is Gong-Gershowitz and Fine labeling criticism of the Chinese government as "racist."   

“There's been a concerted effort to shut down any type of conversations,” Geldermann, a Glenview-based technology consultant, told North Cook News. “So only people who agree with the government or the Democrat Party, you know, seem to have rights of speech. Normally, a conversation is not meant to be a debate where one side is right or wrong, but is a true expression.”

Geldermann’s comments follow renewed attention to a 2021 incident at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview. 

Radio host Dan Proft recently resurfaced the controversy on X, reminding followers that a student-made poster by the school’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter featured an “Among Us” video game character with a hammer and sickle and the caption “China Kinda Sus.”

Gong-Gershowitz and Fine publicly condemned the image as “racist” and met with school officials to demand action. 

Shortly afterward, the poster was taken down, and the TPUSA chapter was disbanded after its faculty sponsor withdrew support. The school district cited the lack of a sponsor as the reason for dissolving the club.

“Two North Shore Mao enthusiasts/state legislators rallied to the defense of the CCP by inveighing against a few high-school kids who find the CCP's concentration camps, for example, a tad impolite. Their government school comrades dutifully whipped a rogue faculty member back into line and ended the unfortunate free thought incident.” Proft said on X. “Glenview and Northbrook, home to the ‘great’ Glenbrook Schools, are members in good standing of Chicagoland's Union of Soviet Socialist Honky Suburbs (USSHS).”

Geldermann argues that this was not an isolated incident but part of a broader trend. 

“I think it's a natural outgrowth of the way they've been behaving," he said. 

“And this way of being able to twist the language. What they call ‘democracy’ is actually authoritarianism and the people that they call ‘Nazis’ and ‘fascists’ are actually people who believe in the founding documents and believe in citizenship.”

Geldermann said Gong-Gershowitz, whose grandparents were Chinese immigrants, and Fine are using their political power to suppress ideological opposition. 

“I don't believe that Representative Gong-Gershowitz or Senator Fine actually based their conversations on a set of core principles that we as citizens of the state and of the country were founded upon,” he said. “They use their power to bully people into silence.”  

Geldermann also cited the Democratic Party's association with authoritarian regimes pointing to the state's dealings with Chinese-controlled companies as evidence of this trend. 

He expressed skepticism about the motivations behind these agreements, suggesting they may be financially driven rather than in the state's best interest.

“You have to look at all the deals the state of Illinois has made over the last five years with Chinese-controlled companies,” Geldermann said. “Illinois has spent billions of dollars luring Chinese companies here.”

One recent investment involves the village of Manteno in Kankakee County, where a $2 billion lithium-ion battery plant is planned. 

Critics argue that the plant, once eligible for up to $7.5 billion in tax credits—including $500 million allocated by the State of Illinois—represents a misuse of taxpayer funds to benefit Gotion, a Chinese-owned company with direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

Backlash from Manteno residents—citing concerns over safety, secrecy and national security—reflects growing frustration with Democratic-led economic development deals that favor foreign investment over local transparency and American ownership.

Geldermann also noted the influence of private equity firms in Illinois, alleging they may be profiting from state deals like the Gotion plant.

"What I would think would be an interesting investigation would be all the private equity buddies of Pritzker that are involved in these things too," he said. 

The Chinese Communist Party is known for its tight control over speech and is accused of exporting that sentiment abroad.

A recent policy paper by the National Security Institute outlined the Party’s campaign to export its censorship system globally by using economic pressure to suppress unfavorable narratives about China.

Geldermann insists that political expression—especially criticism of foreign governments like China—should not be conflated with racism or hate speech.

“We have to get back to first principles—speech, accountability, and citizenship,” he said. “If we don’t, we’re letting government overreach define our values and silence the people.”

Geldermann also addressed broader political issues, criticizing what he sees as a “revisionist history” that glorifies authoritarian figures. He cited individuals such as Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, arguing that their actions contradict the founding principles of the United States.

"This whole Bolivarian revolution runs counter to what the country has founded on in the Declaration of Independence,” he said. 

Geldermann also noted the CCP's history of genocide. 

“(The CCP) is responsible for over 61 million deaths through the great revolution, through the Great Awakening, through the reeducation camps,” Geldermann said. 

Geldermann ran for the Illinois House of Representatives in District 17 but was defeated by Gong-Gershowitz in the Nov. 5, 2024 general election. He received 31.3% of the vote compared to Gong-Gershowitz’s 68.7%.

Looking ahead, Geldermann is now preparing for another run in 2026, saying the current political environment in Northern Cook County demands change. 

"We're coming to the point now today where we need a new speech revolution," he said. 

He is working to build a unified conservative campaign and hopes to re-engage voters across ideological lines.

“Anybody who's not a Democrat in Northern Cook County is disillusioned and really depressed about the whole thing,” he said.