Dave Shestokas: Illinois Attorney General Candidate

ILLINOIS — Ahead of Illinois' June 28 primary elections, Patch distributed questionnaires to candidates running against Democrat incumbents in statewide races, including for the office of Attorney General, which is currently held by Kwame Raoul.

Raoul is running unopposed on the Democratic side.

Three candidates have filed right the face Raoul in the November general election. They include Orland Park resident and former Cook County State's Attorney David Shestokas, downstate Illinois lawyer Thomas DeVore and international business attorney and Deerfield resident Steve Kim.

Candidate Name

David Shestokas

Campaign website

https://wwww.dave4ag.com

City or town of residence

Orland Park

Office sought

Attorney General

Party affiliation

Republican

Education

BA from Bradley University in 1975. Studied comparative legal systems at Trinity University, Dublin Ireland, and earned a Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School, cum laude in 1987 (serving on The John Marshall Law Review, and awarded The Order of John Marshall).

Occupation

Attorney Admitted to Practice in Illinois in 1987 and Florida in 2004.

Family

Daughter is a Will County Assistant State's Attorney. Granddaughters attended and graduated from the University of Illinois, Champaign

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

Daughter is a Will County Assistant States Attorney

Age

70

Previous public office, appointive or elective

Arbitrator in Will and Cook Counties, conflicts counsel Cook County Juvenile Court, Child Protection Division
Former Assistant State’s Attorney at Cook County Government.
Involved in over 10,000 criminal prosecutions. As a member of the Felony Review Unit participated in police investigations and made charging decisions in over 400 felony cases. Oversight of Juvenile Foster Care Health & Well Being.
Hearing Officer Chicago Board of Elections Commissioners.
Illinois GOP State Central Committee for Ballot Integrity.

Why are you seeking this office?

As counsel for the Illinois Conservative Union (ICU), Dave filed suit against to Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE) to vindicate the rights of ICU leadership under the National Voter Registration Act. The lawsuit requested that ISBE follow federal law in providing ICU with voter data needed to determine the state board (ISBE) legal compliance with voter roll maintenance. ISBE said no to provide legally required data. The ISBE lawyer is the current Illinois Attorney General who has basically said that the State of Illinois is above the law. The Illinois Attorney General is practicing “lawfare” against the citizens. This has to stop.

Crime and safety is a huge concern for Illinois citizens due to the policies of prosecutors around the state like Kim Foxx in Cook County and Eric Rinehart of Lake County, whose refusal to prosecute crimes endangers the lives, safety, and property of Illinois citizens. While this directly affects those counties, a recent conversation with DuPage Sheriff Mendrick revealed that at times 80 percent of the inmates in DuPage County jail had committed crimes and been released from Cook County.

The Illinois Attorney General has the authority to prosecute cases that local state’s attorneys refuse. As Attorney General, I will redirect assets currently being used against Illinois citizens (such as the Illinois Conservative Union case) to monitoring local prosecutors. Where necessary, I will direct assistants to prosecute crimes being ignored by local state’s attorneys. To have direction in this work I will initiate a Law Enforcement hotline for direct referral of cases police and sheriffs believe have been improperly declined by local state's attorneys.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is ___, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Crime unleashed, law enforcement restrictions, and government acting against citizens. I will direct the Deputy Attorney General of Criminal Prosecutions to reassign Assistant Attorneys General to monitor local prosecutions and criminal investigations. At no additional taxpayer expense, when necessary, initiate prosecutions to protect Illinois citizens when local prosecutors abdicate their duty, i.e. Kim Foxx in Cook County, Eric Rinehart, Lake County.
Create a Law Enforcement Liaison Office, with a law enforcement hotline for officers to alert the OAG of neglect by local prosecutors, and monitor legislative actions related to the protection of citizen safety through law enforcement.

Third, resolve lawsuits by citizens filed against the state alleging failure of the state to comply with existing law and establish a policy of working with citizens rather than litigating against them. Educate staff attorneys to understand that their first duty is to represent the people, not the government. Expand the AG Public Integrity Bureau to include citizen referrals of Official Misconduct committed by the state, county, and city officials and employees.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

As an Assistant State's Attorney, I was involved in over 400 felony investigations and prosecutions and 10,000+ misdemeanors. The next criminal prosecution either of my opponents handles will be there first. This provides the experience to properly evaluate the prosecutions of assistant attorneys general.
Also, I have the contacts to recruit top talent to the office. Former Illinois State Police Assistant Director/Lt. Colonel Terry Lemming and career prosecutor Christopher Pfannkuche have agreed to join the office following my election.
Additionally, I had election duty as a prosecutor, and have been involved in election integrity matters around the country in Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. I have also been a Hearing Officer for the Chicago Board of Elections, with every recommendation I made on contested election matters being adopted as the decision of the Board. As the prosecution of election crimes is a specified duty of the AG this experience will be invaluable.
I have had the privilege and honor to address a judge:
"Good Morning your Honor, David Shestokas on behalf of the People of the State of Illinois." I am aware that a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, and Attorney General have a special duty under the law: To do Justice. I have done that before and look forward to doing it again.

If you are challenging an incumbent, how would you perform differently if elected?

The AG in Illinois is elected by the people. The Illinois Attorney General Act directs the first duty of the AG is to represent the people, not the governor or the government. It is not an appointment to do the will of the governor. When there is a disagreement of law between the governor and the Attorney General . . . the Attorney General is bound by the Illinois Constitution to act as the lawyer chosen by the people. The governor has no authority to obtain another lawyer if he disagrees with the AG on a question of law. The Office of the Attorney General decides what cases to pursue or defend in court. It is the last stop on the law and the Illinois and US Constitutions prior to court. The current Attorney General has acted against the people and the constitution. The emergency actions of the governor sanctioned by the AG were illegal. The current AG forced churches to the steps of the Supreme Court advocating that churches were non-essential… a violation of their rights, an enormous expense (on the public’s dollar and for the churches) all with foresight knowing the illegality of those actions. I filed on behalf of a church in Morris, Illinois to remain open during the pandemic, and swiftly, without incident, it did. As Illinois Attorney General, I will prosecute crimes of election fraud, and government misbehavior, and reinforce our law enforcement professionals.

How would you characterize the events of Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol?

While all eyes were on Washington, DC, I was working with the National Republican Senatorial Committee monitoring the Senate runoff elections in Georgia. Election Day had been January 5, 2021. I and several other attorneys had been observing both ballot processing and signature verification since Dec. 26, 2020. We had been assigned two locations in Clay County about 30 miles from Atlanta. There had been a regular schedule with all election activities open to observation.
On the evening of January 5, (Election Day), Senator David Perdue was down by .3 percent. Georgia law provides for an automatic recount if the margin is .5 percent or less. Georgia law also allows for the processing of mail-in ballots received by the close of the polls on election day, meaning on Jan. 6, the final processing of ballots received the day before would be verified and processed that day.
I and my attorney partner went to the ballot processing location on the morning of Jan. 6, as we had done each day since Christmas. The doors were locked and a note indicated the facility was closed to the public. Following that, we went to the signature verification location (in the local courthouse). That office was closed as well. All phone calls to our contacts were unanswered. The calls of our own headquarters were not answered as well.

I and my partner were never able to observe the final ballot processing in GA, and the story was the same for many of my colleagues around the state.

Ultimately, Senator Perdue would lose by a final vote count of 1.2 percent, meaning there would be no automatic recount.

The untold story of January 6 is that while everyone was watching Washington DC, the final tabulations for the Georgia Senate elections were taking place in secret.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

The Illinois Attorney General Act directs the first duty of the AG is to represent the people, (not the governor or the government). An additional duty is to prosecute election offenses. I have been involved in election integrity issues for many years. I understand elections are the vehicle designed to obtain the “consent of the governed”. As Attorney General, I will make this duty a principal priority of the office as it is critical to providing legitimacy to everything else that government does.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Beyond the legal experience mentioned above, I have management experience as the president of a beverage distribution company that at its height employed 50 people. I have communication skills as demonstrated by the three years I hosted a radio program devoted to the United States Constitution. I have shown fidelity to our constitution and founding principles in the over 200 articles on my website shestokas.com and the books I have written, "Constitutional Sound Bites" and "Creating the Declaration of Independence". Along with Dr. Berta Arias "Capsulas Informativas Constitucionales" was created as the only book in the world devoted to America's Founding in Spanish. That effort provides evidence of my work to bring knowledge of American law and principles to a wider audience and the educational approach I will take in explaining the actions of the Attorney General's office to the people of Illinois so that people will be informed that the AG is THEIR elected lawyer.

What was your first paying job, and what did you learn from it?

I was a caddy at LaGrange Country Club. There were periodically professional tournaments for which I earned the right to carry bags. I watched how some extraordinarily talented and skilled golfers would hit hundreds of practice shots to prepare. I learned that regardless of the level of accomplishment it is of great import to continue to practice and learn in an effort to achieve.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

I would ultimately grow up on a beer truck in the business started by my grandfather. Beer knows no demographic barriers and I literally delivered beer in every Chicago neighborhood and suburb. Early on as I began working in every ethnic area imaginable my Dad provided this sage advice: "There's no black, brown, yellow, or red, there's only green." That experience taught me that whatever efforts are made to slice and dice us into various interest groups, basically all people want the same things: to take care of their families, have a safe environment, and have an opportunity to succeed.

I have often said that I have had two great jobs in my life. As an Assistant State's Attorney, I was tasked to seek justice. As a helper on a beer truck I found myself welcome at every door I knocked upon as everyone welcomes the guy who rolls in the beer. I actually think beer truck helper taught me lessons about people and justice that might not be available elsewhere, but at the very least I did learn there are more common denominators among people than there are divisions.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I want the people of Illinois to know that I will be their Lawyer, not the governor's.