By Illinois Review
On Thursday, over 200 grassroots conservatives gathered at the Drake Hotel in Oakbrook as a sold out and energized crowd gathered to discuss how to flip Illinois red.
The Conservative Caucus – led by president Jim Pfaff – hosted the event. Pfaff’s political career spans over three decades and includes having served as Chief of Staff for two different congressmen – U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY and U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-KS. He also served as president of the Colorado Family Institute, and he was a representative for Family Policy Councils at Focus on the Family. Pfaff is also widely respected around the country for his grassroots expertise and he has a long history of winning campaigns at every level.
TCC Development Director Janelle Towne and TCC State Director Jacqueline Garretson, who serve on Pfaff’s team organized the event.
The speaker lineup included Pfaff, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, J6 patriot Kash Kelly – who was imprisoned by the Biden administration for three years for being in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 and peacefully exercising his right to protest, and Chicago Flips Red cofounder Jessica Jackson.
Kelly described his inhumane prison conditions and how prison guards were ordered to treat J6 prisoners worse than the rapists and murderers who were locked up alongside him. Kelly, who peacefully protested in the U.S. Capitol on January 6th and walked peacefully inside to take a picture said he doesn’t regret being in Washington that day.
“If you see your rights being stepped on as an American, and our constitution – what is your duty? To stand up!” Kelly also challenged the sold out crowd to “adopt the ideology of constitution-based protest.”
Jackson, who gained national attention – and even the attention of President Donald Trump – for calling out embattled Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson during city council meetings for his failure to protect citizens and prioritizing migrants over his own people. And she noted that if the Democratic Party wouldn’t help her, she was going to take matters into her own hands and “flip Chicago Red because the Democratic Party was killing Chicago and America and this is our country too.”
Blagojevich, who served as Illinois’ 40th, twice-elected governor, and refers to himself as a Trumpocrat – discussed how the same weaponized justice system that sent him to prison for 14-years for things that were not crimes – is the same corrupt system that has tried to do that to President Trump.
“What they did at the triple-A level to a sitting governor, they tried at the major league level with a sitting U.S. president.”
The former governor described his time on Celebrity Apprentice with Donald Trump – and how years later – that same man would be elected president and free him from prison. Blagojevich concluded his remarks encouraging the crowd to never give up the fight for freedom.
“Always defend freedom because it’s not given to us by the government. It’s given to us by God.”
On Friday night, Pfaff will be meeting with conservative patriots to discuss a formal plan of action to help turn Illinois red. Illinois grassroots have become a dominant force over the last few years, and the movement continues to gain momentum despite opposition from some leaders at the state party level.
Friday’s gathering starts at 7:00 pm. You can still register at the following LINK.
