Skip to content
  • Subscribe
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • Email
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment
  • Features
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
Suburban Chicagoland

Suburban Chicagoland

Original News, Features & Opinion on local and regional news you won't find anywhere else

  • About
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Our Writers
      • Ray Hanania
      • Bill Lipinski
      • Biography: Aaron Hanania
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Policy
    • Reach Out
  • Sections
    • Events
    • Opinion
    • News
    • Features
    • Seniors
    • Comic Strip
  • Library
    • “MIdnight Flight” Online Book
      • Midnight Flight Book Overview
      • Midnight Flight Introduction
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 1
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 2
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 3
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 4
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 5
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 6
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 7
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 8
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 9
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 10
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 11
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 12
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 13
    • Villages, Cities & Towns
    • Federal Office Holders
    • County Officials
    • Legislators
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
  • Comment
  • Podcast
    • Ray Hanania on Politics
    • Two Guys on Politics
    • Hanania on Tiktok
  • News Wire
  • Archive 2004-2013
  • Toggle search form
  • Father and two daughters Jeffery M Leving
    Father’s Fight to Protect his Abused and Badly Beaten Daughters Dads' Rights
  • Illinois Senator Michael Hastings addressing the Orland Township Democratic Organization Wednesday Oct. 12, 2022
    Hastings announces $75,000 grant for Olympia Fields Bicentennial Park renovations Illinois Legislature
  • Alleged Member of Chicago Street Gang Charged With Soliciting the Murder of Senior Law Enforcement Official Involved in “Operation Midway Blitz” Crime
  • IIEC Logo
    The Energy Omnibus Bill will increase rates over the rest of this decade as Illinois families and businesses toil under higher utility costs Business
  • Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Polish hero of the American Revolution. After arriving in America in 1776, Kosciuszko joined the Continental Army. As a skilled engineer, he made significant contributions to the war by designing fortifications for several strategic places such as Philadelphia, West Point, and Saratoga. Kosciuszko later returned to Poland to lead his native military in a 1794 uprising. In Detroit, Courtesy of WIkipedia
    Cook County Treasurer Pappas showcases Polish photographer’s first-ever American exhibit and honors Polish American Heritage Month in Chicago Cook County
  • On Saturday, October 4th, Cook County Commissioner Frank J. Aguilar hosted the Fifth Annual 16th District Dia de los Muertos Resource Fair at his district office. Partnering with Commissioner Aguilar were the Village of Lyons, Lyons School District 103, Teamsters Local 777, and Rincon Family Services.
    Commissioner Frank J. Aguilar Hosts Fifth Annual Dia de los Muertos Family Resource Fair  Cook County
  • Jesse Jackson Jr July 2025
    Jesse Jackson Jr. Launches Candidacy for Congress Civil Rights
  • Cook County Treasurer Maria Papas
    Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas to Celebrate Diwali by Recognizing Indian Community Leaders Cook County
  • Andrew Boutros US Attorney Illinois
    Statement of US Attorney Andrew S. Boutros and Federal Law Enforcement Leadership in Chicago on Ongoing Criminal Immigration Enforcement Operations Chicago
  • Cook County Treasurer Maria Papas
    The 5 Most Common Mistakes Homeowners Make with Property Taxes Cook County
  • Road construction cement truck. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Hastings: $123 million in IDOT projects will improve South Suburban roads through collaboration with local leaders construction
  • Source: Electric Power Monthly - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
    Ratepayers will lose in the rush to approve battery storage electricity legislation in Springfield Business
  • Joyful reunion photo courtesy of Jeffery M. Leving & Assc law firm
    Leving Team Prevented a Father’s Wrongful Separation from His Child Dads' Rights
  • CTF Illinois Orland Park, 18230 Orland Pkwy, Orland Park, IL 60467
    Hastings, Giannoulias announce opening of temporary driver services facility in Orland Park Baby Boomers
  • Emagine Theater Pink popcorn
    Popcorn with a purpose: Emagine Theatres brings back Pink Caramel Corn to support Pink Fund during Breast Cancer Awareness Month Business
Sarah Gad, Democratic Candidate for Congress in the 1st Congressional DIstrict in Illinois

Challenge to Congressman Bobby Rush fueled by uplifting story

Posted on February 18, 2020February 18, 2020 By Ray Hanania No Comments on Challenge to Congressman Bobby Rush fueled by uplifting story
SHARE THIS STORY
112           
 
  
112
Shares

Challenge to Congressman Bobby Rush fueled by uplifting story

A woman who was jailed for nonviolent prescription drug offenses years ago after being seriously injured when hit by a drunk driver, is challenging Congressman Bobby Rush in the March 17 Illinois Democratic Primary election for Congress in the 1st District.

By Ray Hanania

A woman who was jailed for nonviolent prescription drug offenses years ago after being seriously injured when hit by a drunk driver, is challenging Congressman Bobby Rush in the March 17 Illinois Democratic Primary election for Congress in the 1st District.

Sarah Gad, 32, is fighting to change a system she said “is designed to marginalize people” and to “rectify miscarriages of justice.” Gad is a third-year law student at the prestigious University of Chicago Law School. Her road to law school was unconventional, saying her legal education “began in a jail cell in the Cook County jail.”

After a near-fatal car accident that left her in a two-week coma, with multiple broken bones, unable to walk or speak, she became addicted to prescription painkillers. Her addiction landed her in the Cook County Jail, where she says she observed and experienced countless human rights and constitutional violations.  

Sarah Gad, Democratic Candidate for Congress in the 1st Congressional DIstrict in Illinois
Sarah Gad, Democratic Candidate for Congress in the 1st Congressional DIstrict in Illinois

“My story is by no means unique. I talk about it openly now because I want to help break the stigma that accompanies both addiction and criminalization of this disease, and because I want to shine a light on a broken system that is in desperate need of reform,” Gad said.

“While awaiting trial, under the custody of the justice system, I was sexually assaulted. When I reported it, I was labeled as a snitch. I became a target for beatings every day. When I was released, I had to have reconstructive surgery on my face.”

Gad, who is Egyptian American, said the trauma of being incarcerated made her addiction even more difficult to overcome. She says her life was a “revolving door in and out of jail” between 2013-2015. She was arrested in July of 2015 and spent five days in jail. She overdosed on the day she was released.

“It was that overdose that saved me. It wasn’t until I overdosed that I finally got the help I needed to overcome this disease,” Gad explained. 

“Addiction is a disease that does not discriminate. I found myself unable to get up out of bed without using. I felt like my personality and my brain were hijacked by these prescription drugs. I was injured and then given drugs that I became addicted to, and then went into jail with an addiction and left jail with an addiction, until that overdose.”

Listen to a recent interview with Sarah Gad by radio and podcast host Ray Hanania, or click this link to listen online.


Gad said she was in her third year of medical school when she was struck by the drunk driver and her life changed.

“I ended up doing more jail time than the driver who hit me. I was punished more severely than he was because non-violent drug offenses are treated as felonies and in a DUI conviction your first offense is treated as a misdemeanor with no jail time,” Gad said.

For a long time, Gad struggled to get back on her feet. She was left homeless and unemployed because of her record. She got a second chance when prominent attorney Kathleen Zellner offered her a temporary research position at her law firm that became permanent.

Gad began as a researcher for medical malpractice cases, but her role evolved to the law firm’s full time Forensics Director, where she was tasked with doing scientific testing for civil rights and wrongful convictions cases.

“When I started working for Zellner, I witnessed egregious miscarriages of justice,” said Gad who is now in her third year of Law School at the prestigious University of Chicago,” she told the Arab News.

“I couldn’t believe these miscarriages of justice were tolerated under the law. I decided to apply for law school to push for criminal justice reform and fix the deficiencies in our criminal justice that I experienced firsthand, but also witnessed through my work at Ms. Zellner’s law firm.”

She noted, “People become addicted to prescription drugs when they have to deal with excessive pain from traumatic injuries, and no one really does anything to help those victims.”

Gad founded and sits on the board of two successful Chicago-based nonprofits where her philanthropic work has attracted national attention. In 2019, Gad was awarded the University of Chicago Humanitarian Award for her service work and contributions to the South Side and Hyde Park communities.

“I am someone who has personally experienced many of the hardships I seek to eliminate, and this is why I am pushing so hard for change. I know what it is like to be homeless in Chicago in the middle of January. I know what it is like to be stigmatized by our system and feel hopeless.” she said.

Gad is running against Bobby Rush, who has held the congressional seat since 1993. She says she was approached to run for office by people in her community because of Rush’s high absenteeism both in the District and in Congress.

“First, I went to Washington D.C. to familiarize myself with the process and to see if I could be an effective leader in that setting,” Gad said.

According to public data, Rush, who founded the militant has the worst absentee record of any Illinois member of Congress and ranks 10th worst national out of 434 Congress members.

“I joined the Legislative Affairs team with the Drug Policy Alliance in Washington D.C. to support their effort for drug policy and reform,” Gad said.

“I had the opportunity to sit in and participate in dozens of congressional hearings, and over the course of three-and-a-half months, I didn’t see Bobby Rush once. He didn’t even show up to hearings that were hosted by his own committees.”

Gad said she was very alarmed when Bobby Rush failed to show up at a hearing about Bill H.R.40 on Proposals for Reparations.

“Our district has the highest population of American descendants of slaves, and we have severe economic imbalances that have been perpetuated since slavery and Jim Crow days and exacerbated by Tough on Crime policies,” says Gad.

“No District in the country could stand to benefit more from reparations than ours, and Bobby should have been there letting the committee know that.”

After her time in D.C., she felt both confident about capably representing the district, but also obligated.

“On many occasions, I found that I was the one speaking up on behalf of our district because no one else was. It really was a wake-up call. We don’t have a voice right now,” Gad said.

If elected, Gad would be the nation’s first formerly incarcerated woman ever elected to U.S. Congress.

For more information on Sarah Gad at SarahGad2020.com.

newswire info
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.  

His award winning columns can be found at www.HANANIA.COM Subscribe FREE today

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at [email protected].

Follow RayHanania at Twitter
Ray Hanania
Latest posts by Ray Hanania (see all)
  • Father’s Fight to Protect his Abused and Badly Beaten Daughters - October 9, 2025
  • Hastings announces $75,000 grant for Olympia Fields Bicentennial Park renovations - October 8, 2025
  • Alleged Member of Chicago Street Gang Charged With Soliciting the Murder of Senior Law Enforcement Official Involved in “Operation Midway Blitz” - October 8, 2025
NPV: 27
  • Tweet

SHARE THIS STORY
112           
 
  
112
Shares
 
112
Shares
 
 
 112         
Blogger, Chicago, Commentary, elections, Government, Opinion, Orland Park, Podcast, Politics, Radio, Suburban Chicagoland, Taxes Tags:1st Congressional District, 2020, Bobby Rush, Democratic primary, Egyptian American, election, March 17, Sarah Gad, victim of DUI, victim of prescription drug abuse

Post navigation

Previous Post: Marie Newman launches very effective TV Ad Campaign
Next Post: Welch to Lead Qualifications Challenge Committee

Related Posts

  • money $20 dollar bill, dollars, cash
    Pappas: Pay Cook County property taxes through October 1 with no penalty Cook County
  • Job program in Orland Township
    Orland Township Presents Seminars for Job Seekers Business
  • State Rep. Chris Welch
    Willis, Welch bill to make hospital closure tougher passes House Government
  • Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Madigan sentenced to stiff seven and a half years in prison on corruption case Chicago
  • money $20 dollar bill, dollars, cash
    Buckner unveils plan to help businesses and strengthen job Business
  • President Joe Biden's missteps and former President Donald Trump's thinned-skinned pettiness are driving this country down
    It can be embarrassing to be an American, sometimes Blogger

More Related Articles

Back to the future News
ADC Panel on Sept. 11 impact on Arabs and Muslims Aug. 16, 2021 Media portrayal of Arabs after Sept. 11 focus on ADC panel Aug. 16 Chicago
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders Bernie Sanders’ Fighting Oligarchy Tour Announces New Stops in Western U.S.  Civil Rights
Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas Property Tax info Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas posts First Installment property tax bills on website Chicago
McLaughlin responds to public calls to open Police Center at Orland mall Cook County
Gary Grasso, Republican Candidate for Congress in the 6th District in 2022 Grasso accuses Pekau of blatantly distorting his own record to deceive voters Cook County

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Login with your Social ID
  • OPINION
  • 06-04-25 Two Guys on Politics Background Zoom LOGO with images
    Video Podcast: Trump Kimmel Kirk Great American Divide Illegal Aliens polling and Illegal Aliens and ICE
    September 20, 2025
  • Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch speaking at a West Side affordable housing dedication
    Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, one of the best candidates to become Illinois Governor
    September 7, 2025
  • Cook County Treasurer Maria Papas
    What You’re Missing on Your Property Tax Bill
    September 5, 2025
  • 05-23-25 Jeffery M. Leving
    Children of divorce caught in the middle during the holidays
    August 27, 2025
  • Cook County Treasurer Maria Papas
    We Can Help You Understand Your Property Taxes—In Nearly Any Language
    August 8, 2025
Subscribe to Ray Hanania's column graphic

Enter Your Email to Subscribe to Ray Hanania’s Columns

  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png

Mohammed Faheem The Lightning Strike Radio

  • NEWS
  • Father and two daughters Jeffery M Leving
    Father’s Fight to Protect his Abused and Badly Beaten Daughters
    October 9, 2025
  • Illinois Senator Michael Hastings addressing the Orland Township Democratic Organization Wednesday Oct. 12, 2022
    Hastings announces $75,000 grant for Olympia Fields Bicentennial Park renovations
    October 8, 2025
  • Alleged Member of Chicago Street Gang Charged With Soliciting the Murder of Senior Law Enforcement Official Involved in “Operation Midway Blitz”
    October 8, 2025
  • IIEC Logo
    The Energy Omnibus Bill will increase rates over the rest of this decade as Illinois families and businesses toil under higher utility costs
    October 8, 2025
  • Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Polish hero of the American Revolution. After arriving in America in 1776, Kosciuszko joined the Continental Army. As a skilled engineer, he made significant contributions to the war by designing fortifications for several strategic places such as Philadelphia, West Point, and Saratoga. Kosciuszko later returned to Poland to lead his native military in a 1794 uprising. In Detroit, Courtesy of WIkipedia
    Cook County Treasurer Pappas showcases Polish photographer’s first-ever American exhibit and honors Polish American Heritage Month in Chicago
    October 8, 2025
John Kass Columns

Order the book PoweR PR; Ethnic Activists Guide to Strategic Communications

YOUTUBE VIDEOS

CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE TO RAY HANANIA'S YOUTUBE VIDEOS


Click here to view the video on YouTube or use the widget below.

Follow Ray Hanania at
Twitter
Facebook
TitkTok
BlueSky
RayHanania Columns

Creative Commons License
All works on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

Categories

Copyright © 2022 Suburban Chicagoland & Urban Strategies Group

Powered by PressBook Premium theme