Election 2024: Steve Reick, Mary Mahady offer stark differences in Illinois’ 63rd House District

McHenry Township Assessor Mary Mahady of McHenry is trying to unseat incumbent Republican State Rep. Steve Reick of Woodstock in the 63rd House district.

The district covers much of McHenry County, stretching from Cary to the Marengo area and includes parts of Woodstock, Crystal Lake, McHenry, Cary, Bull Valley, Island Lake and Prairie Grove.

Reick, first elected to the House seat in 2016, was last reelected in 2022, defeating Democrat Brian Meyers with about 53% of the vote.. Meyers is running for McHenry County Board in District 4 this year against incumbent Republican Mike Shorten.

DCFS and pension reform are Reick’s priorities if he gets reelected, both of which are issues he’s worked on while in the House. Reick said he’s been working on DCFS reform for the past five years.

Reick introduced a bill this session, known as AJ’s Law – named after slain Crystal Lake boy AJ Freund – that would create a pilot program in McHenry County that would replace DCFS in the county with a program similar to DCFS but run through the courts. The pilot would be for five years, but the bill has stalled in committee. Reick said he has gotten the support of the new DCFS director for his reform efforts.

Reick also said he’s “up to my neck” working on reforming the state’s pension plan. He said the state is $140 billion in pension debt. He said Tier II pensions were at risk of falling out of compliance with federal safe harbor laws.

In a blog post on his campaign website earlier this year, Reick outlined his issues with the current system, writing “Illinois’ public pensions are in shambles and are the worst funded in the nation, with nearly 25% of our general revenue now going to pay off the debt.”

Mahady said she ran because she thinks the property tax system needs to be reformed. She said as an assessor, she sees the ramification of the laws.

“I care about making life better” in McHenry County, Mahady said.

She said the property tax appeals process is, in her view, “antiquated.” She said, for instance, usually an attorney will file an appeal on the deadline without evidence, which then drags everything out. She wants the system to be if you don’t have evidence, that’s the end of the road.

Exemptions are another area she wants to see changes in.

Mahady said it is time to have an assessor in Springfield. Reick is currently a full-time lawmaker, but was a tax lawyer before retiring from law.

In the past two years, Illinois has seen a number of changes in the public safety realm, among them the SAFE-T Act and the Protect Illinois Communities Act. It’s perhaps also the area in which the candidates have the most diverging views.

The SAFE-T introduced a number of criminal justice reforms; among them was the abolition of cash bail in Illinois. The other act banned assault weapons in Illinois. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to stop that law from taking effect, which it did on Jan. 1.

Mahady said about the cash bail abolition in her candidate questionnaire: “Previously, if you did not have funds to post bail you had to sit in jail until trial, which is often a long time, preventing that person from working. We are not supposed to be holding people that are accused of minor crimes, but if you are poor, that is what was happening.”

She said more research was needed on the results of the SAFE-T Act. Mahady also wants to hear from stakeholders in the system.

Reick said in his questionnaire when the SAFE-T Act was passed, he might have supported it if it was only applicable to Cook County because of Cook County Jail’s “massive overcrowding.” He said he was “still skeptical of its effectiveness in McHenry County.”

“I have yet to see good statistics as to whether or not crime has not risen since passage of the Act as is claimed by its proponents or whether people are just not reporting crimes, especially property crimes, because they don’t have any confidence that such crimes will be prosecuted,” Reick said in the questionnaire. He also said the law has placed new burdens on the court system.

Mahady said in her questionnaire she supported the ban on purchasing and possessing assault weapons, while legislative records indicate Reick voted against the Protect Illinois Communities Act. Reick said he believed the law will still be found to be unconstitutional and he is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and civil liberties.

Reick said in his questionnaire that if Karina’s Bill, which tries to strengthen enforcement of removing firearms from people with orders of protection against them, came up in the House he will consider it, but won’t support if “orders of protection are used as a blanket justification for the seizure of firearms.”

Mahady said in her questionnaire that “common sense gun safety laws” was one of the reasons she entered the race. In a Northwest Herald candidate questionnaire, Mahady said: “I will advocate for laws that require safe, secure storage of firearms, banning the sale and possession of assault weapons, and prohibiting bringing guns into public areas such as schools, parks, and courthouses.”

Transportation is an issue both candidates have addressed. In recent months, McHenry County leaders have expressed their opposition to proposals to merge the CTA, Pace and Metra boards. Both candidates said in Northwest Herald questionnaires that they opposed the proposed merger.

“I do not believe these should be combined. The CTA is in the worst shape and the state needs to assist with greater funding assistance like what other states do and fares need to be increased,” Mahady said.

Reick said in his questionnaire: “If approved in its present form, collar county board chairs will lose two of their three appointments to the current transit boards, putting the collar counties in a minority voting position on the proposed single board. This would diminish McHenry County’s voice in the governance of regional transportation... I will not vote to consolidate the transit boards because to do so would be to vote against the interest of my constituents and all the people of McHenry County.”

Both candidates said in their Northwest Herald questionnaires that they would respect the results of the election. “Of course. I have full confidence in our County Clerk and his office’s ability to follow the law and accurately tabulate election results,” Reick said, while Mahady said “absolutely.”

Voters can learn more about Reick at ilikereick.com and Mahady at marymahady.com.

Early voting in McHenry County expanded Monday, and voters have until Nov. 5 to cast their ballots.