South Cook News

Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau has conceded to incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Casten. 

Pekau was the Republican candidate in Illinois' 6th Congressional District. He obtained 46.3% of the 266,578 votes according to Ballotpedia. 

He thanked the people who supported him in his race. 

“Thank you all for coming here tonight. Earlier, I thanked our many volunteers, donors, and others for all of their help during the campaign,” Pekau said to supporters in his concession speech. “I also want to thank my extended family, many of whom are here... I wish my parents, Pat and Don could be here in person, but somehow, I know they are watching. While most people would have considered us poor, how rich was I that the two of them adopted me, and my sister Diane, and then they had a miracle baby, my brother Gregg. What they taught us were values. Doing what is right, even when there's a cost, and to serve one’s community and to help one's community. Without my parents, I would not be here today and would not have had the life I have had so far. However, most importantly I want to thank the families [who are] with me and those [who] have not made it tonight: Tim, Amanda, Kristin... Lisa, Maddie, and, of course, my wife Betty.”  

He added that there is a part of him that wants "to vent over the lies" that he said he and his wife have endured, but an email he received from a supporter reminded him of Abraham Lincoln’s words in his Second Inaugural Address: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation’s wounds."

"Here in Illinois, over 55 percent of the people are still duped by a message of lies and deceit over honesty," Pekau said. "By a message of death over life. By a message of dependency over rugged individualism. By a message of shutdowns over individual freedoms. By a message of government by fiat over by legislative efforts...Frankly, I don’t know where the state goes from here. I don’t see much of a path forward, because the state is (in) a hole. It is not seeing what we are seeing all throughout the rest of the country. We ran a good race, but in the end, we could not overcome what has happened in Illinois, and what has happened in DuPage County, we're not going to let that happen in Orland Park.” 

He is glad he will still be able to serve his community.

“[W]hat I do know is I am still the Mayor of Orland Park ... I also know it is the best town in the Southwest Suburbs if not in the entire state. I will continue to be Mayor and do everything we can to keep Orland Park safe, like we have; drive our economy forward, like we have, and make it a place where people want to live. We have a great community, but you need to buckle up. It’s going to be a rough ride. We will be on our own, we have been for some time, we've done very well, and must continue on an island.” 

As the mayor of Orland Park, Pekau has been particularly active in overseeing efforts of the Orland Park Police Department to engage in proactive policing resulting in a decrease in crime in the south suburban community while the City of Chicago has experienced a historic increase.

Similarly, he denounced the SAFE-T Act due to what he calls the law's lax attitude toward alleged criminals. “Offenders released on electronic monitoring have to be in violation for 48 hours before law enforcement can act. They could almost drive to Alaska before we can even look for them,” Pekau said in a video released during the campaign. “It denies victims of constitutional rights and – keep this in mind businesses and homeowners – officers will no longer be able to remove trespassers from your residence or your businesses. Someone could decide to live in your shed and all we can do is give them a ticket.”

In one notable dust-up between the opponents on the campaign trail, Casten accused Pekau of stirring anger among community members over a drag show to be held at Downers Grove Library. Pekau, released a statement prior to the event’s cancellation denouncing the event in which a cross-dresser was set to perform for children. “I join parents across the district in denouncing this event, just as I would denounce a library introducing kids to straight sex by holding a burlesque show,” Pekau said in a statement. “To be clear, I have no interest in regulating the private, consensual activities and decisions of adults. This event, however, targets children. It’s inappropriate, and an unacceptable use of taxpayer funds."