Lake County Gazette

When Sen. Ira Silverstein (D-Chicago) received $55,000 from the Democratic Victory Fund for his re-election, it raised a lot of attention to his campaign and a lot of questions, but for Denise Rotheimer, it’s personal.

That's because Rotheimer, a victims rights advocate, filed an ethics complaint against Silverstein that's leading to more scrutiny of his position.

After filing the complaint, Rotheimer waited months for a resolution as the state legislature scrambled to fill an empty inspector general position that caused ethics complaints against legislators languishing on an empty desk for nearly three years. Expressing frustration with the process, Rotheimer has called the system “rigged” against those filing complaints. Others have also criticized politicians for allowing the inspector general office to go unstaffed for so long.

Sen. Ira Silverstein (D-Chicago)

In the end, Rotheimer feels, it comes down to establishment politics.

“The Democratic Victory Fund would support Silverstein after all the controversy because he has held a position of leadership for a long time, and kept his mouth shut, while he alone took the fall for the wrongdoings in Springfield that could have brought down other legislators, namely Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago),” Rotheimer told the Lake County Gazette on March 1. “Unless the Democrats demand that the $55,400 in campaign funds that Sen. Ira Silverstein received from the State Democratic Victory Fund are returned, the Democratic Party in Illinois consents to a Democratic senator's unlawful behavior that was found to be in violation of the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act and conduct that is unbecoming to a legislator.”

Rotheimer also discussed the likely impact on the electorate.

“The message that this sends to voters is that the Democratic Party is more committed to protecting corrupt elected officials than it is to protect the people from the harm caused by elected officials who betray the public's trust,” Rotheimer said. “Silverstein abused his position of power and should resign from his position as the state senator of the 8th Legislative District.”

Rotheimer said public officials need to be held to a higher standard.

“Politicians need to be held to at least a minimum standard of being required to follow the laws and uphold their oath while holding public office to represent the interests of the people,” she said.