Ilya Sheyman in Illinois 10 Democratic primary

below, release from Sheyman campaign…..

Progressive Democrat Ilya Sheyman Launches Challenge to New Republican Congressman in Illinois’ 10th District

Waukegan community organizer vows to take on Rep. Dold in N. Illinois District, securing over 500 supporters and $100,000 in pledged contributions

WAUKEGAN, IL (April 27, 2011)– Just weeks after forming his exploratory committee, Waukegan-based community organizer Ilya Sheyman launched his campaign for U.S. Congress in the Illinois 10th Congressional District on Wednesday, saying his leadership would represent a “break from the past” in an area that has seen three decades of Republican representation.

Sheyman, a first generation Jewish immigrant raised in Buffalo Grove, vowed to defeat Rep. Robert Dold (R-Kenilworth) by focusing on the freshman Congressman’s Tea Party agenda.

“Congressman Dold voted to end Medicare as we know it. He supports raising the retirement age for Social Security, and has voted to give tax breaks to giant corporations and the wealthiest 2% of Americans. In his four months in office, he has failed to represent the interests of 10th District’s working families in Washington,” said Sheyman. “I’m launching my campaign today because I can’t sit by and watch as politicians like Congressman Dold dismantle the foundations of the American dream that have made millions of middle class lives – like my own – possible.”

Sheyman and his family immigrated to the Chicago area from Russia in 1991, and spent much of his youth in the 10th District, graduating from Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire.

An alumnus of McGill University with a joint degree in history and political science, Sheyman served as national Mobilization Director for progressive political organization MoveOn.org and as Field Director at Democracy for America, the national organization founded by former Vermont Governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean.

Sheyman starts his campaign just fifty days after launching an exploratory effort that secured over $100,000 in pledged contributions; identified over 500 supporters; and featured listening sessions in Waukegan, Highland Park and Buffalo Grove.

One of the most economically diverse districts in the nation, Illinois’ 10th District is a vibrant area located north and northwest of Chicago. The district includes neighborhoods suffering double-digit unemployment, as well as some of the wealthiest communities in the country.

In presidential election years, the 10th District has consistently voted Democratic: for Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, and for Barack Obama with over 61% of the vote in 2008. But in the 2010 election, Dold narrowly rode a national Republican wave to victory with just 51.1% of the vote.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has already identified the 10th District as one of the top pickup opportunities for Democrats in 2012.

“Tenth District values aren’t the Tea Party values Congressman Dold is representing in Washington,” said Sheyman. “Our communities deserve better, and I think that’s one of the reasons why we’ve seen such early, enthusiastic support for this campaign.”

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