GOP Candidate to Replace Jan Schakowsky Makes Media by Playing Off Kat’s Arrest

From a Friend of McHenry County Blog comes this post about Rocío Cleveland, one Republican candidate to represent Algonquin Township and points southeast into Chicago:

Love her or hate her, Rocío Cleveland earns media 

People who are following Illinois politics closely and have heard of 9th congressional district Republican candidate Rocío Cleveland tend to be in one of two camps: they either love her or hate her.

She is someone who is not afraid of confrontation, and fiery confrontations at that.

The way she talks and acts online is similar to how she is in person — she is not a keyboard warrior.

Some might say that she is the Illinois version of Valentina Gomez or Laura Loomer.

She is a bulldog, and people appreciate the bark and bite when it’s being directed at a mutual political opponent but not so much when they or their allies are the target of her wrath.

Cleveland is closely aligned with another controversial and confrontational Illinois politician: gubernatorial candidate and former congressional candidate Joe Severino.

I’m not cataloging every time these two have an intraparty dispute with other Republicans, but suffice to say such disputes happen often.

So much so that Cleveland and Severino were uninvited from the McHenry County Republican Party fair booth earlier this year.

With all that being said, Cleveland does not only attack other Republicans.

She viciously criticizes Democrats, and one Democrat she really dislikes is Kat Abughazaleh who is running for congress in the 9^th district.

Potentially, voters may have to choose between Cleveland and Abughazaleh next November.

(Both have to win their primaries, and Abughazaleh first has to get through an objection from Cleveland’s ally Maxwell Rice.)

Regardless of one’s opinion of Cleveland, her confrontational style is earning media attention.

A large account on social media called “Libs of TikTok” amplified a video wherein Cleveland confronts Abughazaleh at an event and gives her a care package for prison.

Abughazaleh is facing federal criminal charges for impeding ICE outside of the Broadview detention center; she has plead not guilty and awaits trial.

From Libs of TikTok comes this.

This screenshot was taken a while ago but you can see the video has about three quarters of a million views, 17 thousand likes, and over 2 thousand shares.

Libs of TikTok was not the only media entity mentioning Cleveland confronting Abughazaleh. 

Daily Herald and Daily Northwestern also covered it.

Inside the prison gift bag was a bottle of holy water.

Cleveland presenting Kat with holy water.

In the video, Cleveland says Abughazaleh needs the holy water because she seems “possessed.”

You know, by demons.

The bag also contained Ramen spicy noodles, a toothbrush, soap, and other small inexpensive items.

Truth be told, none of Cleveland’s primary opponents, whether it’s John Elleson, Paul Friedman, or Dongbo Mark Su, are earning any media attention thus far.

For better or for worse, Cleveland is the only Republican running in the 9th district who is earning it with her antics.

That counts for something.

Cleveland is the only Republican here who understands the current political environment and media landscape.

She knows that controversy is king.

And nobody will ever accuse Rocío Cleveland of being noncontroversial.