P. Rae Easley, a lifelong Chicagoan and policy expert, is running as a Republican for Illinois’ 7th Congressional District.
Having worked in Chicago politics since she was 12, Easley frames her full-time campaign around restoring safety, accountability and opportunity for residents who she says have been overlooked by current leadership. Easley, who lives in Austin is a former investment advisor with Merrill and says public service has long been part of her life. She was raised volunteering and interning in Cong. Danny K. Davis’ office. She describes Davis as a mentor and father figure and always planned to seek the seat upon his retirement.
If elected, she plans to work with bipartisan colleagues to ensure Medicaid reimbursement is no longer used as a lending risk metric for hospitals and other health care providers, arguing that serving low-income patients should not be treated as an adverse credit risk.
“I understand the federal government extremely well because I was trained directly by the congressman himself and his staff. While working at Merrill as a financial advisor, I successfully brought Loretto Hospital on as a client under the leadership of Mr. George Miller. I invested a great deal of time into building that relationship,” Easley said.
Easley said hospital leadership trusted her and was prepared to let her team manage an initial $64 million in finances, with plans to grow the account with the goal to make Loretto Hospital a client so employees could access the firm’s financial services. However, the firm’s compliance department ultimately declined the deal, citing the hospital’s high Medicaid reimbursement rate as too risky.
“I learned that the 20-year life expectancy gap in the district is not based on the behaviors of the people who live there, but rather on how banking functions. If a community relies on a safety-net hospital with a high Medicaid usage rate, that hospital often lacks access to the primary credit market,” Easley said. “Without that access, it doesn’t have the resources to upgrade facilities, hire new staff, or purchase updated equipment, which ultimately exacerbates the life expectancy gap.”
When asked about current legislative policies or initiatives she supports, Easley said one of the campaign’s key priorities is strengthening border security.
“The open border has led to our district becoming the headquarters of narco-terrorism in this country, which is why we have the heroin highway. The heroin highway exists because of lax border enforcement and sanctuary city policies. Time Magazine wrote about this in 2012, highlighting how our sanctuary policies have actually attracted narco-terrorism, since those who traffic drugs and people know that if they’re caught, they won’t be deported under these rules,” Easley said.
One of the campaign’s positions is strong support for eliminating sanctuary city policies, which the candidate believes have a harmful effect on the safety and security of residents in the 7th Congressional District.
According to Easley, 120,000 families have been on the Chicago Housing Authority’s waiting list for up to 25 years, while the agency has held onto $1.8 billion for over two decades. She supports returning the Chicago Housing Authority to federal oversight to ensure those funds are properly used.
“We have to, for lack of a better word, put them back under federal oversight so that the federal government can take over this responsibility. Obviously, the city of Chicago is struggling to get shovels in the ground and spend the funds. The process needs to be in federal hands so that we can move our people home from Iowa, where they have been waiting for two decades,” Easley said.
Easley said she would differ from Congressman Davis by prioritizing an America First approach and responding directly to urgent district issues. She criticized the lack of action when migrants assembled outside police stations, calling it a situation that required immediate attention.
“I don’t know what’s happening, but it’s in my district and we can’t ignore it. Instead, my congressman and other Democratic leaders held a press conference in front of the ICE facility to speak out against immigration enforcement. I’m very close to him, but if I were to judge him, it would definitely be on that issue,” Easley said.
Easley also pointed to the subprime mortgage crisis as a key issue in evaluating Congressman Davis.
“We are American people, and our colors are red, blue, and white, not white, black, yellow, or brown. We are one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Everything I do will be to advance the American people. If the voters choose to put me in office, I have a responsibility to represent them above all else,” Easley said.
