Rob Cruz To Formally Announce Run In IL-06 Republican Primary

OAK LAWN, IL — Oak Lawn resident Rob Cruz is expected to formally announce his candidacy for the 6th Illinois Congressional District at a political fundraiser set for Friday, Dec. 3, at Cork and Kerry, 10614 S. Western Ave., in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood. Cruz is running for the Republican nomination in the new IL-06 in the upcoming gubernatorial primary June 28, 2022.

“Join us, on December 3, as we hold the line with Sheriff David Clarke and our men and women in blue,” the invitation said. “Now, more than ever, we need to show our support for those who work tirelessly to keep us safe. It's time for us to show them how we can support them! And we can do this by pushing through the right candidates who will get the right policies passed.”

Cruz was elected to the Oak Lawn Community High School Dist. 229 school board this past April. He currently has a pending lawsuit against Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Dist. 229 school board over claims of government overreach concerning the state’s face mask mandate, .Cruz has had a website for his congressional and/or senatorial campaign up for the past several months as a GOP candidate in what was then the 3rd Congressional District.

His board colleagues in Oak Lawn denounced Cruz’s “unauthorized lawsuit” that mentioned his position as an elected D229 school. He’s also been accused of using the Dist. 229 school board as a stepping stone to further himself in politics. Cruz withdrew his original lawsuit, that named only Pritzker and ISBE director Carmen Ayala. He’s since refiled the lawsuit, dropping mention of his elected position and adding the D229 board as a plaintiff for “capitulating” when the district's financial status was threatened and to "curry favor with the governor and [Illinois State Board of Education], violating the rights of all OLCHS students and parents."

A Joliet native, Cruz owns his own development and construction company and claims to have completed more than 400 projects. He says his company has employed hundreds of union workers since 2008. Cruz is also a cancer survivor, diagnosed with leukemia in 2011 and after a grueling four-year battle, he achieved remission.

In 2020, Cruz co-founded the GOP Jamboree, an organization dedicated to attracting younger people to the Republican Party through song and culture. He was also recruited to work on the VOTE NO campaign, a grassroots initiative that would block Illinois politicians from burdening already-stressed residents with higher tax burdens.

Speaking school board member to school board member, Cruz addressed a Lyons Township High School Dist. 204 Board of Education meeting last month, acknowledging how hard the job a board member is, calling it a "thankless job." He chastised the board for the Dist. 204 policies of allowing some advocacy groups on campus and denying others, although he did not go into specifics.

"I think education is built so that two opposing sides can debate healthy in society," Cruz said. "Right now, our society is broken, and we need to teach our kids how to mend it. Allowing advocacy groups and not others, I believe, is a disservice to our children ... We're here to learn, not to coerce."

Cruz also called for removal of two young adult novels, “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” a gay coming-of-age story, and “Monday’s Not Coming” about a missing middle school student, that touches on themes of bullying, race, sexual abuse, disenfranchisement and teen sexuality. Cruz told Dist. 204 board members that both books “almost made me throw up in my face mask.” He cautioned the LTHS board members against following sex education standards that come out of Washington, D.C.

Cruz took aim this week at the Cook County Medical Examiner’s announcement that the county has recorded 1,009 homicides, the highest recorded number since 1994. More than three out of four of the county's killings this year have taken place in Chicago.

"This is a 40% increase from the pre-Covid numbers, in 2019 and a direct consequence of our elected officials setting the wrong course for our communities,” Cruz said in a written statement. "Voters in Cook County must now acknowledge, it is time to elect new representatives, at all levels, particularly our States Attorney, Board President and the Mayor of Chicago.”

Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau has also announced his candidacy for the 6th Congressional District in the upcoming GOP primary.

The newly remapped IL-06 includes all or parts of Alsip, Burr Ridge, Chicago Ridge, Clarendon Hills, Crestwood, Darien, Elmhurst, Evergreen Park, Hickory Hills, Indian Head Park, Justice, LaGrange Highlands, Oakbrook Terrace, Oak Forest, Oak Lawn, Orland Hills, Palos Heights, Palos Hills, Tinley Park, Western Springs, Willowbrook, Worth and extends north to Villa Park and west to Downers Grove. Areas near Midway Airport and a portion of Chicago's Beverly community are also part of the new district.

~ Patch Editor David Giuliani contributed to this report