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
  • 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
  • Chicago Wovles play the Rockford Ice Hogs, Feb. 23, 2025
    Chicago Wolves announce 2025-2026 Training Camp Roster Entertainment
  • 06-04-25 Two Guys on Politics Background Zoom LOGO with images
    Video Podcast on James Comey, ICE Agents, Government shutdown, Gaza Peace Plan, Ukraine and long range missiles, and New York mayoral race Bill Lipinski
  • Five Individuals Charged in Federal Court in Chicago With Assaulting or Resisting Federal Agents Engaged in Immigration Enforcement Operations Civil Rights
  • The Chicago Wolves rallied to defeat  the Iowa Wild 4-3 in overtime Sunday Feb. 25, 2024 at Allstate Arena. The Wild led the game 3 to 0 going in to the 2nd period, but the Wolves rallied and tied in the 3rd period forcing the 5 minute sudden death overtime.
    Wolves broadcasts return to WPWR-TV for 2025 – 26 season Chicago
  • Orland Park Trustee Jim Dodge
    Secretary of State Drivers Facility Moving to New Orland Park Location Baby Boomers
  • Fighting for Duped Man’s Freedom and Future
    Fighting for Duped Man’s Freedom and Future Dads' Rights
  • OFPD Lt. Zachary Zweizig Lt. Dan Ritchie and Lt. Mark Hogan. Photo courtesy of the OFPD
    Orland Firefighters receive awards for battling flooding during Texas deployment Features
  • Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar
    Free Mexican Document Assistance Available This Week at Commissioner Frank J. Aguilar’s Office Chicago
  • Illinois Senator Michael Hastings addressing the Orland Township Democratic Organization Wednesday Oct. 12, 2022
    Hastings: Families deserve a heads-up before major insurance increase Business
  • Congresswoman Robin Kelly official photo
    US Senator Chris Murphy endorses Robin Kelly for US Senate, succeeding Dick Durbin elections
  • OFPD fire 11500 Block of 113th Avenue in Orland Park. Photo courtesy of the OFPD 9-23-25
    Orland firefighter suffers minor injuries in responding to home fire Fire
Congressman Sean Casten

Rep. Sean Casten Declares Victory in Illinois 6th District

Posted on November 8, 2022April 27, 2025 By Ray Hanania No Comments on Rep. Sean Casten Declares Victory in Illinois 6th District
SHARE THIS STORY
            
 
  

Rep. Sean Casten declares victory in Illinois 6th District

Democrat Sean Casten defeated a challenge from extremist Republican Keith Pekau in Tuesday’s Midterm election. Although Republicans were sweeping elections around the country, taking control of the U.S. House from Democrats — and possibly taking control of the U.S. Senate, although that has yet to be decided — Pekau was unable to muster the support her needed to win.

By Ray Hanania

With 97 percent of the vote reporting, U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) declared victory in his re-election to the Illinois’ 6th Congressional district seat over rightwing challenger and Orland Park Mayor, Keith Pekau.

Despite a strong Republican vote surge across the nation pushed by the Midterm elections in which the party that holds the White House loses the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate, Pekau, a Republican, was unable to unseat Casten, a Democrat, who has held the seat in the old 6th District for two terms. The two fought in the new 6th District, which included parts of the old 3rd District.

For most of the evening, Pekau held a slight lead as votes were counted, and the two candidates often ran neck-and-neck with only a few hundred votes separating them. But as the count continued and the evening went on, the votes for the two candidates separated quickly and Casten picked up more than 20,000 votes from the Cook County portion of the district.

With 98 percent of the votes tabulated, unofficial vote totals showed Casten held 54 percent or 142,686 votes compared to Pekau, who trailed with only 46 percent or only 122,950 votes. Casten’s strong landslide victory over Pekau is a stark rejection of Pekau’s far-right-wing extremist politics that dominated his political career, which evolved after he became mayor of Orland Park in April 2017.

Congressman Sean Casten
Congressman Sean Casten

But after becoming Mayor, Pekau quickly proceeded to embrace a more radical agenda, personally attacking other community leaders and journalists and exaggerating his performance in office. Pekau also eliminated differing voices and consolidated the village into one-man control, eliminating the village’s independent committees and often using his mayoral seat as a platform for his politics rather than addressing the village’s needs.

Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau lectures the state on how his administration has "led the way" in refusing to abide by state directives to confront the COVID threat that has taken more than 900,000 American lives during a board meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022 and then used the speech as the basis for a fundraiser solicitation for his candidacy for Congress
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau lectures the state on how his administration has “led the way” in refusing to abide by state directives to confront the COVID threat that has taken more than 900,000 American lives during a board meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022 and then used the speech as the basis for a fundraiser solicitation for his candidacy for Congress

Pekau apparently failed to benefit from the Midterm election cycle in which the party that controls the White House, in this case Democrats, loses control of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate in a backlash political sweep. That Republican sweep however, faltered at Pekau’s doorstep, dashing his ambitions for higher office.

Pekau’s election defeat is a repudiation of his claimed leadership.

Unofficial vote totals fromt he Nov. 8, 2022 General Election contest in which Congressman Sean Casten beat down rightwing rival Keith Pekau in a landslide sweep of the new 6th District.
Unofficial vote totals from the Nov. 8, 2022 General Election contest in which Congressman Sean Casten beat down rightwing rival Keith Pekau in a landslide sweep of the new 6th District.

Casten, on the other hand, built up a coalition of supporters and a campaign based on consistent policies.

Rep. Sean Casten released the following statement after declaring victory around 10:30 PM on Tuesday evening:

“First and foremost, thank you. I ran for Congress in 2018 on the premise that there’s an awful lot more that unites us than divides us. That felt like a naive thing to say at the time.  After all, the 6th District hadn’t voted for a Democrat in 50 years. 

“In the conversations I had with folks across the district, I found a shared set of values. We believe in kindness and decency. We believe in science and democracy. We believe that women deserve the right to make their own health care decisions, and that we’re only as good as the world we leave behind to our children.

“The 2018 election was focused on playing defense against the division driven by the former president. In 2020, we worked to fix what was broken in our democracy and focused on recovering from massive economic collapse and a raging pandemic. And now, the 2022 election is about building on the foundation that we’ve created.

“Over the last two years, we’ve passed the single largest investment in climate action in United States history and the first meaningful gun reform bill in 30 years. We passed legislation to lower the cost of prescription drugs and fix our roads and bridges. We’ve created millions of jobs and brought manufacturing back to the United States.

“Tonight, the people of the 6th District sent a resounding message that this is something we can build on.

“To all who helped make tonight possible—thank you. Every door you knocked, call you made, yard sign you put out, or postcard you sent propelled us to victory. You have a lot to be proud of, and you deserve to celebrate.

“To the voters—since 2018, you have given me a tremendous amount of trust to represent your values in Congress. For this, I am forever grateful.

“Thank you.”

Congressman Sean Casten’s bio:

As a scientist, clean energy entrepreneur, and CEO, and now as a Member of Congress representing the western suburbs of Chicago, Congressman Sean Casten has dedicated his life to fighting climate change. Casten draws upon his previous private sector experience in Congress to craft market-based solutions to reduce emissions while creating jobs and spurring economic growth. 

Casten serves on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, and is the Vice Chair of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets. He also serves as Co-Chair on the New Democrat Coalition Climate Change Task Force.

Rep. Casten has a Master of Engineering Management and a Master of Science in Biochemical Engineering from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. While at Dartmouth, he did fundamental research in thermophilic fermentation technology to produce cellulosic ethanol and engineering analyses of integrated ethanol, heat, and power plants. 

Casten worked as a clean energy consultant and manager at Arthur D. Little, then served as the president and CEO of Turbosteam Corporation, which focused on utilizing energy recycling technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by generating heat and power from previously wasted energy. In 2006, Casten co-founded Recycled Energy Development (RED), which focused on recycling wasted energy and converting energy facilities to cleaner, more economic uses. 

Casten was a founding chairman of the Northeast CHP Initiative, a nonprofit advocacy organization with a mission to advance policies that favor energy efficiency in the Northeast United States. 

While working diligently in Washington on behalf of Illinois’ 6th Congressional District, Rep. Casten is also committed to keeping in close contact with his constituents. To date, he has held over 50 town halls and over 400 community events. 

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)
  • Ratepayers will lose in the rush to approve battery storage electricity legislation in Springfield - October 2, 2025
  • Leving Team Prevented a Father’s Wrongful Separation from His Child - October 1, 2025
  • Hastings, Giannoulias announce opening of temporary driver services facility in Orland Park - September 30, 2025
NPV: 24
  • Tweet

SHARE THIS STORY
            
 
  
 
 
 
           
Cook County, DuPage, elections, Government, National, News, Orland Park, Politics, Suburban Chicagoland Tags:2022, 6th District, Congress, Democrats, election, Keith Pekau, November 8, Orland Park, radical rightwing voices, Republican, Sean Casten

Post navigation

Previous Post: Orland Park Home fire, Avenida Del Este Monday evening, Nov. 7, 2022
Next Post: Order of protection keeps dad from his daughters until he fights in court and wins

Related Posts

  • La Crepe Bistro in Homer Glen, 13957 S Bell Rd, Homer Glen, IL 60491-8503, +1 708-966-4866
    La Crepe Bistro offers genuine French cuisine in Southwest suburbs Cook County
  • J. Sterling Morton District 201 Serves Over 50,000 Meals Since Shutdown Cook County
  • Scorching fun in Bridgeview Festival
  • Pekau sworn in as new mayor of Orland Park Editors Pick
  • Two Guys on Politics Podcast with former Congressman Bill Lipinski and former Chicago City Hall reporter Ray Hanania
    Podcast: Special Prosecutor issues moral indictment of Kim Foxx Bill Lipinski
  • Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas
    Treasurer Maria Pappas featured in Women and Leadership Archives at Loyola University Chicago Cook County

More Related Articles

Unincorporated Orland Township target of Pekau's forced annexation 2024 from 151st to 143rd, and 82nd Avenue to Harlem Avenue Unincorporated Orland homeowners blast mayor’s annexation move Blogger
Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoes legislation that would force suburban taxpayers to pay for waste and corruption at the Chicago Public Schools. The bill would take the majority of school funding from the suburbs and earmark it to bailout Chicago Public Schools, which are in debt to the amount of more than $17 billion. Photo courtesy of Governor Rauner Multi-Agency collaboration reduces backlog at the Illinois Human Rights Commission Government
President Preckwinkle Cuts Ribbon on New and Improved Sand Ridge Campus Cook County
Chicago based civil rights attorney Jon Loevy $22.5 Million Jury Verdict Against Naperville in One of Illinois’ Largest-Ever Wrongful Conviction Verdicts Civil Rights
Summit OKs school crossing improvements News
3rd Congressional District Congresswoman Marie Newman Marie Newman sworn in as Congresswoman for 3rd District Chicago

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
  • Source: Electric Power Monthly - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
    Ratepayers will lose in the rush to approve battery storage electricity legislation in Springfield
    October 2, 2025
  • Joyful reunion photo courtesy of Jeffery M. Leving & Assc law firm
    Leving Team Prevented a Father’s Wrongful Separation from His Child
    October 1, 2025
  • CTF Illinois Orland Park, 18230 Orland Pkwy, Orland Park, IL 60467
    Hastings, Giannoulias announce opening of temporary driver services facility in Orland Park
    September 30, 2025
  • Emagine Theater Pink popcorn
    Popcorn with a purpose: Emagine Theatres brings back Pink Caramel Corn to support Pink Fund during Breast Cancer Awareness Month
    September 29, 2025
  • Chicago Wovles play the Rockford Ice Hogs, Feb. 23, 2025
    Chicago Wolves announce 2025-2026 Training Camp Roster
    September 29, 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