On Thursday, September 8th, a five-year-old girl and her mother were walking on the sidewalk of West Fullerton Avenue. A man approached them and offered the mother cash in exchange for her daughter. When the mother refused, the stranger grabbed the daughter by her hair and attempted to kidnap her. Thankfully, the mother and daughter were able to escape the situation unharmed.

Crime in Chicago and the surrounding area has risen to an all-time high, and it will continue to rise unless we fight to take our city and neighborhoods back. Families no longer feel safe enough to take their children on a walk—in broad day light. This month, our city has experienced heartbreak and loss as we deal with one tragedy right after another. There have been at least 12 young people shot in the city this month alone.

The first step to taking our city back is to keep violent criminals in jail for as long as legally possible, so that they cannot harm more innocent people and families. We should not provide early release or reduced bail. We should respect the victims of crimes by keeping the criminals off of the streets.

The second step is to fully support our law enforcement and first responders. I will not support efforts to defund the police. Our first responders make our community a safer place. We must encourage our law enforcement, so they feel encouraged and stay on the job.

I believe that the third step is to work with families, schools, and churches to create a community where we can support young people and encourage them to find their purpose. Graduating high school is one of the major milestones that can help young people live a productive life away from crime. We must work to support the young people in our community to help the create a life and future that they can look forward to.

Crime on our streets is causing and will continue to cause businesses and tourism to vacate our region. We must get crime under control or it will destroy or future. As your Congressman, I will fight to make our region safe for families and businesses.

Please share our campaign with your friends and family that care about Cook and Lake Counties as well as cities such as Chicago, DesPlaines, Park Ridge, Lake Zurich, Barrington, Norridge, Lincolnwood, Elk Grove Village and Arlington Heights.

To see my stance on more issues, visit my website votetommyhanson.com or email me at tommy@votetommyhanson.com. God bless you and your family.