Lake County Gazette

Denise Rotheimer has officially pulled the plug on her Republican run for state representative, telling the Lake County Gazette she now plans to dedicate even more time and energy to the still unfolding sexual harassment complaint she filed against Rep. Ira Silverstein (D-Chicago).

Rotheimer said she thought long and hard before making the decision to end her bid for the seat held by Rep. Sam Yingling (D-Grayslake) in the 62nd House District.  

“Dealing with something like this (the harassment issue) is so personal I want to make sure I’m able to see it all the way through,” she said. “I’m doing this not just for myself, but for every other woman that might have had the misfortune of being put in a situation like this. There are other candidates that are running for office.”

Denise Rotheimer

A longtime activist and victim right’s advocate, Rotheimer alleges that Silverstein took advantage of a situation when the two were working together to advance a bill to endlessly harass her by regularly reaching out on Facebook and routinely calling and texting her late into the night.

She said he only turned cold, going as far as threatening to kill the bill, after he came to suspect she might have a boyfriend.

While Rotheimer said she never felt any direct pressure from any of Silverstein’s colleagues to end her candidacy for state representative, she admitted she grew tired of dealing with “all the little pettiness” before and after she filed the petitions needed to formally get on the ballot.

“I filed my petitions to run and right away the validity of them was being challenged,” she said.

Rotheimer said her overriding focus will now be about pushing to have a system put in place where women who are forced to endure any of what she says she has endured can be heard and their complaints fairly investigated.

With the inspector general post that probes complaints of harassment in Springfield vacant for two years, Rotheimer’s allegations against Silverstein went at least a year without being looked into.

Former federal prosecutor Julie Porter was recently installed in the position of inspector general, and Rotheimer said she feels she has done everything she can to assure that her claims are fully investigated.

“She worked hard in helping me put my summary statement together and in helping me to make sure all the pertinent details I have to share were fully expressed," she said.

Before Porter was on the case, Rotheimer went on record in asserting she felt she had no rights in the process and was starting to feel she was on the verge of being “railroaded.”

Now, Rotheimer says, she only wants due process, for both herself and the man she is pointing the finger at.

“We both have that right,” she said. "I know I did nothing wrong.”

During the two years the inspector general office went unfilled, at least 27 complaints were filed that largely went uninvestigated.