Geldermann, who ran for the seat in 2024 and is mounting another campaign for 2026, argued that Democrat officials in the district have embraced extreme policies that undermine public safety, destabilize local services and shield illegal immigrants.

“The North Cook Democrat Party has been taken over by the Marxists, and the Village of Northbrook is like example number one of that,” Geldermann told North Cook News. “The kookiness that goes on there and the Northfield Township Board, all they do is keep spending money on other people's money on projects that fail.”

Geldermann’s comments follow a Libs of TikTok post on X that accused the village of protecting illegal aliens by refusing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

“The City of Northbrook, IL, posted an entire page to their website detailing their commitment to protecting illegal aliens, stating that they will not work with ICE, won't track the immigration status of residents, and won't allow federal agents to use facilities,” Libs of TikTok said in the post on X. 

“They also give advice on how to avoid ICE detainment and encourage them to report ICE activity in order to ‘prevent future harm’ to ‘communities.’" 

“This city needs to be investigated immediately. @DHSgov @ICEgov.”

The Village of Northbrook’s “Community Rights and Commitments” outlines a series of policies affirming that residents can access services regardless of immigration status, that local authorities will not inquire about or track immigration information except when legally required, and that the community is committed to protecting privacy and limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

Among the specific assurances, the village states, “We will not ask about or investigate your immigration status unless specifically required by law or a court order,” and adds that “We do not participate in federal immigration enforcement activities, except when required by law.” 

The policy also clarifies rules for the use of municipal property, noting, “No one is authorized to use Village facilities or parking lots for purposes other than their intended use… without prior approval.”

“My opponent, she's part of the Illinois squad, and she's an immigration lawyer,” he said of Democratic state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz. “She's been advising people on these seditious and insurrectionist acts of not complying with lawful orders from federal officials.”

Turning to broader policy, Geldermann argued that Democratic immigration policies have fueled crime and strained local resources.

“They purposely brought up 600,000 illegal immigrants from 2020,” he said. “About 25,000 of those came up on Abbott buses. The rest of them were flown in by the Biden administration. In this category, you have the people, the predators, who are here to take advantage, whether it is rape, identity theft, drug flinging, murder or drunken driving.”

To underscore the real-world impact, Geldermann highlighted the case of Joe Abraham, a Glenview father whose daughter was killed by a drunken driver.

“None of the Democrats will talk to him about it,” he said.

Abraham’s 20-year-old daughter, Katie, was killed in a car accident involving an illegal alien with prior arrests. He said Illinois’ sanctuary policies, including the TRUST Act, allowed the driver to remain in the state despite previous offenses and criticized state leaders for prioritizing politics over public safety.

Operation Midway Blitz, a DHS and ICE initiative responsible for roughly 3,000 arrests of criminal illegal immigrants in Illinois and Indiana over the past two months, has been dedicated to Katie Abraham.

Geldermann described what he called a larger ideological strategy.

“We got this whole Marxist agenda that's going on,” he said. “I think the biggest thing is that they're really trying to shut down people by getting us to abdicate our responsibilities to our neighbors, making the problem seem so large. There's never any measurement of the success of their programs, and you just see how bad they are, but they always blame somebody else: ‘It's Trump's fault, it's (former Republican Illinois Governor Bruce) Rauner’s fault.’ We just want to hold them to account at this point.”

Geldermann drew comparisons between modern leftist political activism and violent extremist movements. 

“You have to question this false compassion that they have for people, it's the new night riders, it's a new KKK,” he said. “This is the armed portion of the Democrat Party, and it's no coincidence that all the violence is coming from the left: all the assassinations, assassination attempts, the drunk driving, all this stuff keeps coming back to Democrat policies and Democrat rhetoric.”

In late September, the White House condemned a wave of Radical Left violence, including multiple attacks by Antifa and other left-wing extremists. 

This followed the assassination of Charlie Kirk, two assassination attempts on President Donald Trump, and ongoing assaults on ICE officers nationwide, including in Illinois. Armed Antifa militias attacked ICE facilities in Texas, Oregon and Washington, using explosives, firearms and incendiary devices. The violence has also targeted Republican offices, political figures, and public events, reflecting a broader pattern of politically motivated attacks linked to the radical leftists.

Geldermann argued that poor civic education has led to widespread political misunderstanding. 

“The civics education in the country is so dismal that people can't think themselves out of a paper bag,” he said.

“We were supposed to give the predators more compassion than their victims,” he said. “This started with the Safe-T Act and the attempts to disarm citizens. I'm sure my opponent can't tell you what a woman is, what an assault rifle is, or when life begins. Now the state decides when parents can be informed if their children are experiencing gender dysphoria at school.”

Illinois House District 17 includes all or parts of Evanston, Glenview, Golf, Morton Grove, Northbrook, Skokie and Wilmette.