Jostin Fuqua from Flip Chicago Red stood before 201 Kane County Republicans and declared, "It feels good not to see any blue-haired Democrats," as the crowd cheered and clapped.
He and the other three founding members of Flip Chicago Red - Danielle Carter-Walker, Mali Robins and Zoe Leigh - were guest speakers at the annual Kane GOP Lincoln Dinner Saturday, Feb. 21 in a packed banquet room in the Holiday Inn Elgin.
The message from them, also from guest speaker Kristina McCloy of Hinsdale, Kane County GOP Chairman Andro Lerario, Michelle Bettag, Kane GOP executive vice chair and Debbie Kanarowski, was a drumbeat to get out the vote, as the March 17 primary and the Nov. 3 general election are both bearing down.
"If we lose this election, we might be done having red county-wide," Bettag said. "The biggest power in this room is networking. We have a huge network of people right now, in this room ... it is imperative that we get the 59,000 identified Republicans in Kane County to vote. ... If those Republicans show up, I guarantee you with the low turnout ... we can get this done."
Being red in a blue city
In his remarks, Fuqua described what he called the frustration of trying to highlight the Republican party in Chicago.
"We were founded by just a dozen people - frustrated - who came together ... because we were tired of seeing our communities - especially the South Side, West Side of Chicago, Black communities - going backwards," Fuqua said. "Especially since we have more education than ever and we make more money than we ever did, but yet if you look at our neighborhoods, you just don't see it."
Until recently the majority of Black voters backed Democrats, Fuqua said.
"Our whole lives, we were told ... to be Black meant you had to be Democrat."
Fuqua called Joe Biden "the most racist president" when he went on The Breakfast Club radio show in 2020 and said, "If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't Black."
Biden later apologized for that remark.
Fuqua said the momentum is building, with positive attention from President Donald Trump amid push-back from the Democratic machine in Chicago and Cook County "because they're afraid."
"They know it's not just 'blue no matter who,'" Fuqua said. "They know that the threat to the blue machine is coming."
Fuqua called for support - both financial and with volunteering - to flip Chicago red, and then flip northern Illinois red as well.
"Our country is under attack by illegal immigrants. Our country is under attack by Democrats who call themselves socialists when they're really Marxists," Fuqua said. "And our country is under attack by people who do not love America."
God's challenge
Carter-Walker said their business suffered financially because of their Republican activism.
"The fight is truly between good and evil," Carter-Walker said. She said that when God called her, she was warned that her business would suffer.
"I told God if he took everything from me, I would serve him and I would not be scared anymore," Carter-Walker said, to thundering applause. "He showed me that if I trust him, he will make a way for me and us."
Carter-Walker described being unable to hold town hall meetings in Chicago's 50 wards through public venues, such as libraries, because "they will protest us and call us fascist,"Carter-Walker said. "We must rent facilities. ... We are going to educate the people. We were never taught as Black Americans - we were not taught to be politically educated."
Leigh spoke about how their cultures are different, but their goals are the same.
"We are all Americans, but we are culturally different. ... Let us be in our lane. Let you all be in your lane. And at the end of the day, we get to the finish line ... We are going to win this fight," Leigh said, to thunderous applause and a standing ovation.
Concerned parents
McCloy of Hinsdale co-founded Concerned Parents Illinois, which supported parents' rights to have their children in Hinsdale District 181 opt out of books related to LGBTQ in their schools.
McCloy said she became active during the COVID-19 pandemic because her son, at 2, was speech-delayed "and wearing a mask does not work."
"And I said, 'I'm not masking my kid anymore.' With me standing up, other moms said, 'We're not masking our kids, either,'" McClory said. "And that's where my group Concerned Parents started."
After another school shooting, McClory said she sought to have schools get the same security that politicians and government buildings have.
McClory said she was a student at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb in 2008 when there was a mass shooting, "and it had a profound impact on me."
"I went on to fight my district," McClory said."We are the first district to have police security in our elementary schools."
McClory said she approached State Rep. Jed Davis, R-Yorkville, who sponsored House Bill 1346, to establish the School Resource Officer Grant Program to fund salaries and costs associated with hiring an active law enforcement officer as a school resource officer.
State Sen. Darby Hills, R-Barrington, sponsored its counterpart, Senate Bill 2788. Both were referred to committees.
"It just took one mom to stand up - just one - to get all the other moms to stand up and get all of this accomplished in such a short amount of time," McClory said.
She encouraged those present to run for seats on their village and library boards.
"All these crazy blue-haired liberals have taken over these boards and we need to get conservatives on these boards," McClory said. "Most importantly, if you see any crazy liberal ideology creeping into your community - you need to get up and you need to slap it. Because we are normal. ... We stand together and we fight together - we win together."