9th District Candidate Takes on Powerhouse
Joel Pollak's first step into political arena presents two tall orders for the Republican.
Joel Pollak is trying to accomplish something that hasn't been done for 64 years.
The 33-year-old Republican is trying to take a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Illinois' 9th Congressional District--which hasn't elected a Republican since 1946. He's taking on incumbent Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) who has been in office since 1999.
But Pollak remains determined to at least let the voters know who he is and sowing the seed for a long relationship with the electorate.
Pollak was sitting outside the Starbucks coffee shop at the Skokie Swift train station making campaign videos with a camera phone on Tuesday. His only concession to the sultry conditions was a loosened tie, as the young man who grew up just steps from the station tries to make the leap into Congress.
A Skokie native, Pollak attended Solomon-Schecter Day School and Niles North High School. After interning with Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL) and studying for six years in South Africa, his political viewpoints began to change.
"I really believed quite strongly that we needed an interventionist government to solve a lot of problems, particularly poverty," Pollak said, recalling his earlier political views. "What I saw in South Africa is that interventionist government is not the answer. Government can help, but it really has to come from the people in the private sector in particular."
With his fresh outlook, Pollak eventually returned to the U.S. and got his law degree from Harvard University. It was there in April 2009, where Pollak became a darling with the right wing when he confronted Rep. Barney Frank at the Kennedy School of Government about whether Frank should shoulder some of the blame for the economic crisis.
Pollak was soon appearing on many talk shows, and he said at that point, he was approached about returning to his hometown and taking on Schakowsky.
After giving the race some consideration, Pollak officially declared his candidacy in September 2009. He has received the support of the Tea Party and his financial supporters include Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts and restaurant entrepreneur Rich Melman.
While he is a Republican, Pollak said he doesn't want to be labeled one.
His street and yard signs play down party affiliation, and while he accepts the support of the Tea Party, the GOP candidate stresses he does not agree with the growing movement of discontented voters on every issue. Instead, he is mainly interested in the novice political movement's advocacy of cutting government spending.
Schakowsky, who has consistently won more than 70 percent of the vote in her re-election efforts, has raised more than $1.2 million as of June 30 in a sign that she is not taking her seat for granted.
"We're definitely running an aggressive campaign," Schakowsky said. "This is a year where the electorate is very volatile. But ultimately I do believe that his values and positions are not consistent with the district."
Meanwhile, Pollak has raised more than $221,000 through June 30 and is not certain if cash will be coming from Republican campaign committees.
Despite the differences in funds and the Schakowsky's powers of incumbency, Pollak has not been dissuaded.
"She has won with large margins but she has rarely faced a very strong and concerted opposition," Pollak said. "I believe that many people in the district, including many Democrats, would like to see an alternative.
"I think this is a district that votes for the person and not the party," he added. "Regardless of how good a year it is for Republicans, I think it is going to be a great year for our campaign."
When pressed what he will do if he cannot pull off the monumental upset in two months, he concedes he will have to pay off some debt and another run for office may be forthcoming. Besides his law degree, Pollak is an author and has had small acting roles in films.
But his political aspirations have spurned hope in Paul Riel, a Skokie psychologist who was one of Pollak's early supporters. In a state where a certain state senator from Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood had a successful career after losing a congressional bid in 2000, Riel was bullish on the prospects for Pollak's run for office or the candidate's other possibilities down the road.
"He is a very credible, intelligent candidate," he said. "Even if he doesn't win this, the guy is going someplace."
Samuel Young
1:26 pm on Thursday, September 2, 2010
Yes!
Steve
2:07 pm on Thursday, September 2, 2010
Joel Pollak's hypocrisy is astounding. Rejecting government intervention based on the events of South Africa and applying it to the USA is absurd. Perhaps Mr Pollak should be reminded that South Africa's old apartheid government did ignore millions of South African's needs for a very long time. Is he implying that South Africa's ANC should stay out of their affairs? I have no doubt that the despicable National Party of the old South Africa, if were to still exist would endorse Mr Pollak and his Republican Party today.
Just the other day, Joel Pollak also heroically quoted late Black Conscious leader Steve Biko, who was brutally murdered by the apartheid regime.
Political opportunism at best, for, the late Steve Biko was an avowed socialist, and fervently believed that only a socialist economic system would work for South Africa.
The again, Joel Pollak did vote lefty before he voted righty.....I hope you eventually find yourself, Joel.
Jimmycartersuxs
5:46 pm on Thursday, September 2, 2010
Have you seen the yard signs this guy has out? You cant' drive 5 feet in Evanston, Skokie or Lincolnwood without being bombarded with them. Never thought I'd ever say this, but this Republican can win in a district that historically blindly votes for the "D."
Nancy B
9:49 pm on Thursday, September 2, 2010
Joel Pollak will represent the 9th in Washington ...unlike the corrupt Jan Schakowsky who cares nothing about us, and represents Washington special interests like Shore Bank to US! ..her time has come ,shes going down in November people are on fire with Joels message and are sick of HER! We can send her to Miami to retire with her felon husband where they can do no more harm to this country and her people they care nothing about.
The organizer of the "protest" at Joels fundraiser with Paul Ryan yesterday is the very SEIU thug that Joel caught on tape at Jans"town hall meeting" last year who bused in out of district protestors. Joel videotaped him and it was all over the net and on fox news saying "if anyone disagrees with Jan surround them and yell "healthcare now"..we are not fools you have taken us for all these years Ms Schakowsky and you are afraid now that you have seen a real opponet for a change....start packing your bags.
Adelaide Rowe
12:39 am on Friday, September 3, 2010
The 9th district could not have a better congresswoman than Jan Schakowsky. She has worked tirelessly to ensure the continuation of social security and medicare, two government programs which keep senior citizens from poverty. She is concerned about small businesses, consumer rights ( you can thank her for the expiration dates on food items), the unemployed, and the medically uninsured. She is unwavering on immigration rights, women's rights, civil rights, and civil liberties. She has been a strong advocate for educational benefits ranging from the funding of Head Start to the lowering of interest rates on college loans. One can always count on Jan to vote for the underprivileged as well as the middle class - as for the really rich, perhaps not so much. I can think of few members of Congress who have been as true to their values as Jan has, and I can think of few members of Congress who have as many loyal and hard working volunteers.
In terms of busing Nancy, I can tell you that most of the busing that the 9th District has participated in has been funded by our grassroots organizations , not fronted by operations like Freedomworks, which is funded by billion dollar healthcare industries who don't give a damn about the common man. Also, at least when unions fund an operation, they do so for the benefit of their many members, not for the benefit of the CEOs (who make probably 400 times more than the average worker) and the stockholders.
Tom Mannis
4:28 pm on Sunday, September 5, 2010
Nice article... Who took the photo?
arlene mac nab
4:35 pm on Wednesday, October 6, 2010
hopefully Jan will lose this election. I am tired of her being a cipher for GOD OBAMA. She evidently thinks he walks on water. Neither he or she take what people in the disrict want for this country. Go Pollak!
Michael Livshutz
12:33 am on Thursday, October 14, 2010
It's interesting to see Jan's standard talking points recited by Adelaide Rowe. The usual suspects - class warfare, old accomplishments from when Jan was as young as Joel is now, more money thrown into the black hole of our dysfunctional Chicago Public Schools system and various rights that other people end up paying for. I think Jan has been true to her values. Too bad her values are so far out there on the left tip of the left wing that they don't actually work.
It's nice that she helped put common-sense reforms such as expiration dates on food items. That was a loooong time ago. There's no way I'm falling for the single-payer healthcare that she's pushing. I don't like the British nor Canadian system. Plus, I don't like her idea of immigration rights; for her they are simply legalization of all illegal aliens without regard to jobs they would take from poor and middle class Americans. It's such an obvious ploy to just obtain millions of brand-new Democratic voters.
Plus her support of J Street on Israel. I am completely unhappy about it (I am a Jew, immigrant from the old USSR). J Street has one purpose - to defeat Netanyahu in the next Israeli elections, whenever they might be. I really don't like her jumping to their side so quickly.