Web Extra: 10th District Democratic Primary Forum


Click image to view photo gallery.There was plenty of antagonism between the Democratic candidates in the 10th district during their forum on Chicago Tonight.

Ilya Sheyman has “far-left” policies, John Tree said, while Sheyman and Brad Schneider argued over Schneider’s support for some pro-Israel Republicans. Vivek Bavda said all of his opponents’ plans were too partisan to pass the Senate.

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But Bavda said the four are prepared to patch things up after the primary on March 20.

“On March 21, we’ll all be united against Bob Dold,” he said.

This is the second time Bavda’s been on TV. In 2006, he was a contestant on the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

“I lost on the $8,000 question because I didn’t know Tommy Lee was the drummer for Mötley Crüe,” Bavda said. “Basically, it was a free vacation to New York City.”

Sheyman appeared on Up With Chris Hayes once, but the makeup room was still a novel experience for all four.

“I’m a colonel in the Air Force,” Tree said. “And this is the only time I’ve ever had makeup on.”

After makeup, the four candidates waited in a conference room while Chicago Tonight staff got the set ready. Playing with the bottle of water in front of him, Tree jokingly asked if the forum was sponsored by Aquafina.

“I speak for Aquafina,” Tree said. “Do you know who speaks for me?”

The candidates shrugged their shoulders.

Click image to view photo gallery.“The Lorax, because the Lorax speaks for the trees,” Tree said, referencing a signature line from a Dr. Seuss book about a creature who advocates for the preservation of natural resources. “Every time that [movie adaptation] commercial comes on, my girls go, ‘The Lorax speaks for us!’”

Tree also took an opportunity to needle Schneider, who’s endorsed by the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald.

“You know Brad, I got endorsed by Journal and Topics [a newspaper chain in the north suburbs],” Tree said. “So you can’t keep saying you’re the only one with newspaper endorsements—you’ve got to take that language out of your materials.”

“Only one with major newspaper endorsements,” Schneider said with a grin.

Minutes later, it was time to get on set and meet host Phil Ponce. Click here to watch the candidates’ discussion from our show. 

Visit the image gallery below to see behind-the-scenes photos.

Click here to visit Chicago Tonight’s 10thCongressional District March Primaries page.

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