No recommendation for GOP in Congress for Dist. 9

Four candidates are running in the Republican primary for Congress in Illinois’ 9th U.S. House district. It is a clearly gerrymandered district that stretches in a long thin slice from the north side of Chicago across parts of 32 suburbs as far northwest as Lake in the Hills in McHenry County. The district has been controlled by Democrats for decades, most recently by progressive Jan Schakowsky, who is retiring after 28 years in office.

We wish one of the four were a competitive candidate who could turn November's general election into a worthwhile debate with the Democratic Party nominee. Unfortunately, that's not the case. We are reluctant to withhold an endorsement in any race because we know voters must make a choice even if all candidates are flawed. But an endorsement also provides our seal of approval and in this case, we do not feel comfortable that any of the candidates merit that.

Arlington Heights pastor John Elleson is affable and seems caring enough, the kind of Republican that George W. Bush once described as a compassionate conservative. But when we asked about President Donald Trump's tariff policy, Elleson's reference to his son Ben's job as senior adviser to Commerce Secretary Howard Litnick gave us pause: “You're going to see me defend the administration. Like I say, my son's very close, he's in the Oval Office once every three-four weeks meeting with Trump. So we don't want to get him fired.” He immediately backtracked and described that as a joke. But was it?

Given Trump's demonstrated record of retribution, could we count on a Congressman Elleson to challenge the president when needed if he thought it could cause problems for his son? Beyond that, we are troubled by a response Elleson provided to Trump's suggestion that vote tabulations in some states be nationalized by Republicans. After first saying he believes it's a state responsibility (as the Constitution sets out), Elleson rambled to add that, “I don't have a solid opinion on that right now, but I think it's worth talking about … so I'm not 100 percent sure.” A congressman should not have to think about whether to support the Constitution or whether to oppose an effort by a president to politicize the way votes are counted, especially when it's a president who more than once has denied results that did not go his way.

Chicago software writer Paul Friedman impressed us with his thoughtful and reasonable views on the issues. He is willing to buck the MAGA perspective when it makes sense to do so, which in this era of Republican absolutism takes a bit of political courage. But his name is on the U.S. sex offender registry as a result of a since-expunged misdemeanor criminal sexual conduct case in Michigan in 1998. He says he is one of a number of people wrongly included on the registry but with records purged, serious questions remain. Cook County Republican Party Chair Aaron Der Mar described the matter to be “disqualifying” and we are forced to agree.

Mark Su, an IT consultant from Chicago, seems well intentioned with a goal of reducing the conflict between the country's political factions. Certainly, we support the idea of trying to soften the country's harsh polarization. But Su lacks substance on the issues and the personal skills to make him an engaging or effective candidate — or even more importantly, to make him an effective member of Congress.

That leaves MAGA apostle Rocio Cleveland of Island Lake, whose disruptive and unruly behavior in our candidate interview as well as on the campaign trail makes us wonder whether she aims to be a member of Congress or a stand-up comic. When we asked about the president's call for Republicans to nationalize the vote count, her reflexive response was “I would support Trump in whatever decision he would like us to enact.” That's the comment of a member of a cult, not of a would-be public servant who thinks for herself.

We wish we had a recommendation in this race. Unfortunately, the candidates leave us no room to offer one.