by BRIAN NADIG

In the Nov. 5 general election state Senator Robert Martwick (D-10) faces a challenge from Republican Jon Luers, who in 2022 ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign.

Martwick, an attorney and former prosecutor, was first elected to the Illinois House in 2012 and in 2019 he was appointed to the Senate after John Mulroe left his District 10 seat to become a judge. Martwick also has served as a Norridge trustee but now lives in Chicago and serves as the 38th Ward Democratic committeeperson.

The district includes much of the Far Northwest Side, including all or parts of Jefferson Park, Portage Park, Norwood Park and Edison Park, and some suburbs, including Rosemont. 

The Senate district is represented in the Illinois House by representatives Lindsey LaPointe (D-19) on its east end and Brad Stephens (R-20) on its west end, making it one of the more politically diverse districts in the Senate.

Martwick said that some of the legislation he plans to seek in 2025 includes addressing the “Tier 2” pension law that went into effect in 2011. The legislation reduced benefits for new government workers as part of a cost savings measure.

However under the law the “Tier 2” benefits — while reduced compared to those for older government workers — must be “equal or better” than Social Security and that may not be the case, Martwick said. “We have to fix because the alternative of not fixing is more expensive,” he said.

Martwick, who sponsored the elected school board law in Chicago, said that he plans to seek legislation that would “reign in spending” from outside sources in Chicago school board races. “A ton of money from outside the state to influence” board races has been spent, Martwick said.

Martwick added that he also plans to pursue new legislation that would bring “more transparency” to the area of property taxes and that would regulate artificial intelligence. He said that as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he expects to be reviewing proposed rules on the use of AI given the legalities involved in the increase use of this technology.

Luers is a software imagineer who lives in Chicago and became the Republican nominee in 2024 after running as a write-in candidate against Martwick in 2022.

“Illinois government has no consideration for taxpayers and commits to ever-greater deficit spending for programs that don’t benefit the average Illinois citizen, just the politically-connected.

“Likewise, law enforcement’s hands are tied for the benefit of those they have good cause to arrest, rather than for the cause of public safety. The state government feels it can micromanage our lives and the economy without restriction, but I would be a ‘no’ vote on such matters. 

“I would put penalties on lawmakers for irresponsible spending commitments and push for reduced red tape for businesses and codify the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights,” Luers states on his campaign Web site.

Luers also criticized public schools in Illinois. “(They) are ridiculously expensive and ineffective because the teachers’ unions essentially can get whatever they want, such as the COVID lockdowns that reversed any progress made in the last 20 years,” he said.

The winner of the race will receive a 4-year term.

 

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