A military veteran and the brother of a Republican working mother and activist who is running for Illinois' 72nd District House seat is attacking his sister's Democratic opponent in two campaign ads that respond to suggestions that she would be soft on veterans issues.
Democratic candidate Mike Halpin's recent mailer uses veterans as political pawns, retired U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Sean Mulkey, the brother of GOP candidate Brandi McGuire, said during a 60-second version of the response ad.
Retired U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Sean Mulkey, in a campaign ad for his sister, Brandi McGuire.
| Contributed photo
"A politician who exploits vets is kind of the lowest level that I can imagine," Mulkey said in the response ad. "You don't take somebody who offered service to this nation and use them as a tool or a pawn. That's pretty low."
A 30-second version of the response ad also has been released. Both were paid for by Liberty Principles PAC.
A portion of both ads shows Halpin's mailer with the headline "Veterans fought for our freedom, but politician Brandi McGuire won't fight for them." The mailer equates McGuire's unwillingness to support last summer's temporary budget with not fighting for veterans' issues.
"That's news to me," Mulkey said in the longer of the two response ads. "It's also absurd. All that Mr. Halpin proved with this political propaganda is that he doesn't know anything about our family's service to the country we love, and he either doesn't know anything about my sister or he just chose to lie about her. I don't know if Mr. Halpin is ignorant or a liar, but I do know Brandi, and I know this. Brandi will fight for the families she seeks to represent in the Illinois General Assembly, including veterans and their families, with the same passion I fought to protect and defend this nation."
The stopgap budget measure to which the mailer refers was brokered by lawmakers in Springfield this summer. It ended a largely partisan 18-month standoff that had people going to court just to get paid. A balanced budget for Illinois remains elusive.
The most recent mailer against McGuire is not the first time Halpin has used a mailer for an attack ad. In February, Halpin sent out a mailer slamming fellow Democrat and primary opponent Jeff Jacobs for allegedly accepting money from a lobbyist who represented outsourcing companies. Jacobs called the allegation inaccurate and absurd, but still lost to Halpin in the Democratic primary the following month.
McGuire, best known for her successful litigation against the Sherrard school district over how the district treated her daughter, Kellsey, who has epilepsy, and Kellsey's service dog, has called for fundamental change in the way the state handles its budget.
"Democrat leaders have not learned from the past or maybe are choosing to ignore mistakes of the past," McGuire told the Chicago Tribune editorial board this year. "They want to do the same thing all over again. This is not representing the families and businesses in our state; this is irresponsibility. If we don't fundamentally change our practices to make Illinois more competitive in job creation and improve our economy, no tax increase will fix the budget. We only need to look back a couple years to see this."
In March, McGuire defeated Jordan Thoms during the Republican primary.
McGuire and Halpin are challenging each other for the state House seat occupied by state Rep. Pat Verschoore (D-Milan). The 72-year-old Verschoore, who has represented the 72nd District since he was appointed March 29, 2003, will retire after completing his present term.
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