Lobbyist Rabbi Lawmaker Lied About Abortion Law: Pro-Choice Group

CHICAGO — With less than five weeks to go before the Democratic Party primary, local elected officials and activists accused a state representative of breaking his promise to support an abortion rights bill and told voters that he cannot be trusted to keep his word.

Last May, Rep. Yehiel "Mark" Kalish (D-West Ridge) voted "present" on the Reproductive Health Act, or RHA, which passed 54-40. The bill repealed a series of restrictions on reproductive rights that are presently considered unconstitutional but could have taken effect if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn the landmark abortion decision Roe v. Wade. Seven Democratic state representatives voted against it, and Kalish was one of four to vote "present."

Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Edgewater), the bill's sponsor, appeared Wednesday at a press conference in Chicago arranged by the statewide pro-choice political committee Personal PAC. She said the RHA had likely been the most important piece of legislation she had ever ushered through the General Assembly.

Speaking Wednesday flanked by signs with messages like "Kalish lied to us" and "Kalish=broken promises," Cassidy said constituents of the 16th District deserve a representative who can make meaningful promises and has the confidence of colleagues in the Capital. Kalish does not, she said.

"In Springfield, the only thing you have is your word. And if you go back on your word, you have nothing," Cassidy said. "Whether you agree with the fundamental substance of the bill, if you know a member has gone back on a promise like this you can't trust him to ever make a promise again that you can count on."

Kalish told Patch he did not believe that his reversal on the RHA had cost him credibility with his fellow legislators.

"I took 5,000 votes this session. We're talking about one vote that I flip on. Every other vote was consistent. Every other vote. And there were some big votes," Kalish said. "It hasn't hindered as of now, I don't think it will hinder in the future, and if there's somebody who's concerned maybe they'll double check with me and make sure. But I hope that, as my career continues in this, that I’ll have the ability to continue proving myself."

Kalish has said his Orthodox Jewish values were not aligned with some components of the bill and he had to make a decision based on his conscience.

The 16th district includes most of Skokie and Lincolnwood, all of the 50th Ward on Chicago's North Side and some its 40th Ward. Niles Township Democratic Committeeman Lou Lang represented the district for more than three decades before resigning in January 2019 to take a position as a partner in a lobbying firm.

Later that month, Lang and Ira Silverstein appointed Kalish, the CEO of a lobbying firm and the first rabbi to be seated in the Illinois General Assembly, as his replacement. Silverstein, the former 50th Ward Democratic Committeeman ousted from the Illinois Senate in 2018 after losing the first competitive primary he had faced in 20 years, is also running in the March 17 primary. He is seeking a judgeship.

Cassidy said she had been told that support for the RHA was a fundamental question for everyone who sought the appointment to Lang's former seat. After meeting Kalish, she said she believed he would be a partner in the process. He committed to supporting her bill, she said, and, for a time, advocated on its behalf.

"And then, the morning we were going to run the bill — let me reiterate — one of the most important bills I will ever carry, one that we worked and fought tooth-and-nail just to get called. I'm preparing for the biggest debate of my life and I'm getting text messages from someone I thought was solid asking to meet with me," Cassidy said.

"He shared with me that he had changed his mind, I guess, for lack of a better way to put it," she said, recalling Kalish had said his conscience would not allow him to support it. "He shared with me that he had met with the speaker that morning and offered his resignation over the issue. He shared with me that he understood that changing his mind on this was a fundamental breaking of the promise that he made to his constituents."

Kalish declined to confirm whether or not he offered to resign over the vote. But he acknowledged some mistakes surrounding the RHA. He said he should not have committed to supporting the legislation before seeing what was in its preamble, the only part of the bill he had a problem with.

Specifically, he took issue with a section titled, "Fundamental reproductive health rights," in the bill:

(a) Every individual has a fundamental right to make autonomous decisions about the individual's own reproductive health, including the fundamental right to use or refuse reproductive health care.

(b) Every individual who becomes pregnant has a fundamental right to continue the pregnancy and give birth or to have an abortion, and to make autonomous decision about how to exercise that right.

(c) A fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent rights under the laws of this State.

"A fetus has no rights in the state of Illinois now, from conception until birth," Kalish said. "I don't believe that's pro-choice language. I feel if we had more than 48 hours, we probably could have negotiated that out of the bill."

Kalish said he had little warning that the bill would be coming to the floor and went to Cassidy as soon as he knew it had been called. He said he should have also immediately contacted the five to 10 people to whom he had also promised his support for the bill. Instead, he turned off his phone and declined to respond to inquiries following his vote.

Giving a bill sponsor five minutes warning that you are withdrawing your support is "definitely what you shouldn't do," Cassidy said.

"If you're challenged by something, first of all, don't commit until you know. It is why I don't commit until I've read the bill and examined whether it's something I can really stand for," she said. "Was this a rookie mistake? Maybe. But it' a rookie mistake that is in direct conflict with the will of his district."

Kalish said the fact that his vote was not needed for passage of the bill contributed to his thought process. If his vote had been necessary, he suggested, he would have asked for certain language to be amended.

"I took several thousand votes and most of my votes were consistent with how I told people I would vote," Kalish said. "This was one instance, and I hope I can continue to work with those legislators in a positive fashion."

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Cassidy was joined at Wednesday's press conference by about a dozen 16th District residents, including a pair of Skokie residents who serve as commissioners on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation Board.

"He sat in his office and told me to my face he would be a 'yes' vote for the Reproductive Health Act, and that he would not only sign on to the bill and support the bill but he would be a leader," Commissioner Josina Morita said. "But the day of the vote, the day that it mattered, he lied. He lied to me. He lied to the voters of the 16th District. He lied to his own colleagues. He lied to the women of Illinois."

Commissioner Deb Shore took issue with Kalish's record of campaign contributions to Republican politicians.

"He never would have been appointed to this position if it were known that he would not vote for the Reproductive Health Act, and his connection to right-wing, anti-choice Republicans is a huge red flag, given his betrayal," Shore said. "Kalish has funded the campaigns of right-wing Republicans who work to restrict access to reproductive health care in Illinois and in the region. He claims that businesses he worked for made those donations, but, once again, he's lying. Campaign disclosure records revealed he donated thousands of dollars to support the campaigns of former Congressman Peter Roskam, State Rep. David McSweeney and former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. The residents of the 16th District deserve far better."

Kalish said the donations were on behalf of his business, even though they were in his name, citing Wisconsin laws. He said he has given far more to Democratic candidates and causes over the years.

Three candidates are seeking the Democratic Party's nomination in the March 17 primary.

Denyse Wang Stoneback, the founder of local gun control group People for a Safer Society, has been endorsed by several pro-choice groups, including Planned Parenthood, Men4Choice, Chicago NOW and the organizers of Monday's press conference, Personal PAC.

Cassidy, Morita and Shore have also endorsed Stoneback.

"Our campaign is honored to have the support of so many women from across the district," Ben Chou, Stoneback's campaign manager, said in a statement after the press conference. "We look forward to winning this race on March 17."

The third candidate to enter the race was Kevin Olickal, the first executive director of the Indo-American Democratic Organization. He told Patch that support of abortion rights should not even have been in question for a state representative in the left-leaning district.

"Mark Kalish does not reflect the values of this district. He was appointed to this seat, and my concern is the process. Why was he even considered to be the next state representative of this district? This was a backroom deal and this is exactly how we could have expected it to backfire," Olickal said.

"I was concerned all the way through. the moment he was appointed," he said, citing contributions to Klaish from pharmaceutical and health insurance companies, nursing home chains and charter school networks. "Knowing his lobbying background, who he's taken money from, who he's worked for, the positions he's taken in the past, this was inevitable, I believe. He had assured us he was going to vote yes on the RHA. He backtracked on that, now it's even more concerning."

After studying biology in college, Olickal returned to his native Skokie and entered politics, spending more than two years working for the Democratic Party of Illinois. He has been endorsed by State Rep. Karina Villa, former Chicago Ald. Ameya Pawar and Asian American Midwest Progressives, which noted the district has the highest Asian-American population of any district in the state.

Kalish has been endorsed by Secretary of State Jesse White, 8th District State Rep. LaShawn Ford (D-Chicago) and AFL-CIO, AFSCME, Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois and the Chicago Fire Fighters Union.