Another Violent Weekend in Chicago Underscores Failure of “Illinois Blueprint”
CHICAGO — Another weekend in Chicago brought more violence, more victims, and more reminders that public safety has taken a backseat to failed policies.
According to police reports, at least two people were killed and six others wounded in weekend shootings across the city. In separate incidents, a CTA rider was brutally beaten and robbed by a group of assailants, and two teenage suspects allegedly robbed a woman at gunpoint as she dropped her child off at daycare.
“These incidents are the predictable result of policies that have made Illinois less safe,” said Republican U.S. Senate candidate Don Tracy. “When politicians put ideology ahead of common sense, everyday people pay the price.”
The broader trend is just as alarming. According to HeyJackass.com, 541 people have been shot in Chicago so far this year, which is a 4% increase over 2025. And there have been 139 homicides, which is up 7% from last year.
“Families should not have to worry about being attacked on a bus or train, or carjacked or robbed at gunpoint while dropping their kids off at daycare,” Tracy said. “But in Chicago today, that’s the reality.”
The human cost is staggering. In just a single weekend, victims of criminal violence in Chicago can rival, and often exceed, the number of American casualties seen in overseas conflicts.
Tracy added. “During the same timeframe, we have lost more Illinoisans to criminal violence on our own streets than we have lost soldiers and sailors in the military conflict in Iran. Yet, the governing class in Illinois continues to support giving violent career criminals 3rd, 4th, and more chances and in the case of Lawrence Reed who burned alive Bethany MaGee on the Blue line, 72 chances.
“Juliana Stratton wants to take this ‘Illinois Blueprint’ to Washington. But the model she’s supported in Illinois, has made Chicago its suburbs, and other Illinois urban areas more dangerous. This is a lousy model for the country.
“It’s time to put common sense back at the center of public safety, and high time for the Lt Governor to push the General Assembly to amend the SAFE-T Act to make it easier for prosecutors and Judges to keep violent career criminals off our Streets and out of our neighborhoods."
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Kathleen Murphy
Director of Communications
Don Tracy for Illinois
dontracyforil.com | kathleen@dontracyforil.com
PO Box 135, Springfield, IL 62705
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About Don Tracy:
Don is Senior Counsel at Brown, Hay & Stephens, the oldest law firm in Illinois, where Abraham Lincoln famously practiced law for four years. Public service is important to Don, with a lifetime spent in community service, most often in volunteer positions. He has served as Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, Chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board, Secretary of the Illinois Bar Foundation, President of the Sangamon County Bar Association, Chairman of the Illinois Corporate Acts Advisory Committee, and President of the Abraham Lincoln Association, President of the Oak Ridge Cemetery Board, among other community leadership positions. Born in Urbana, raised in Mt. Sterling in Western Illinois, and having raised his own family in Springfield in Central Illinois, Don has deep ties to "downstate Illinois." As the oldest of 12 children, family has always been important to Don.