Ammie Kessem
Ammie Kessem (Republican Party) is running for election to the Cook County Board of Commissioners to represent District 9 in Illinois. Kessem is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026. Kessem advanced from the Republican primary on March 17, 2026.
Biography
Ammie Kessem was born and lives in Chicago, Illinois. She earned a bachelor's degree in American studies, sociology, and business administration from Dominican University in 1998. Kessem’s career experience includes working as a police tactical officer for the Chicago Policy Department. She led the implementation of the Gang Intervention Probation Program (GIPP), which was formed to "deter individuals placed in the program from additional criminal gang activity by enforcing the conditions of their probation."[1] GIPP was implemented conjunctively with the Cook County State’s Attorney Office and Cook County Probation Department.[2][3]
Elections
2026
See also: Municipal elections in Cook County, Illinois (2026)
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
General election for Cook County Board of Commissioners District 9
Incumbent Maggie Trevor (D) and Ammie Kessem (R) are running in the general election for Cook County Board of Commissioners District 9 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Maggie Trevor (D) | |
 | Ammie Kessem (R) | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
Democratic primary for Cook County Board of Commissioners District 9
Incumbent Maggie Trevor (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for Cook County Board of Commissioners District 9 on March 17, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Maggie Trevor |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Kevin Murphy (D)
Republican primary
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
Republican primary for Cook County Board of Commissioners District 9
Ammie Kessem (R) advanced from the Republican primary for Cook County Board of Commissioners District 9 on March 17, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Ammie Kessem |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2018
General election
General election for Illinois House of Representatives District 19
Incumbent Robert Martwick defeated Ammie Kessem in the general election for Illinois House of Representatives District 19 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Robert Martwick (D) | 60.7 | 21,389 |
| Ammie Kessem (R) | 39.3 | 13,852 | |
| Total votes: 35,241 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 19
Incumbent Robert Martwick defeated Jeffrey Laporte in the Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 19 on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Robert Martwick | 67.2 | 9,332 |
| Jeffrey Laporte | 32.8 | 4,563 | ||
| Total votes: 13,895 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 19
Ammie Kessem advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 19 on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ammie Kessem | 100.0 | 2,637 |
| Total votes: 2,637 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
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2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
- See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Ammie Kessem participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on September 19, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Ammie Kessem's responses follow below.[4]
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
| “ | Hard 1% cap on Property taxes. Lower State I come taxes back down to 3%. |
” |
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?
| “ | Lower taxes and smaller government. Cut out all the red tape and regulations so that Illinois can be a competitive state and attract more business. Currently our state GDP falls far behind the national GDP. Which essentially means that illinoisians are losing buying power and are becoming poorer and poorer.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[6]
|
” |
Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Ammie Kessem answered the following:
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow and why?
| “ | Former Mayor Jane Byrne was one of my childhood role models. She was a class act and really connected with those she served. She loved our First Responders and treated them with the level of respect they deserved. It was my childhood dream to follow in her footsteps and become Mayor of Chicago some day.[6] | ” |
| “ | I would highly recommend reading some of the many articles that are published by the Illinois Policy Institute. Their scholars and staff are extremely well versed in the issues that are affecting our state. They understand the causes and are brilliant at helping to come up with solutions.[6] | ” |
| “ | Honesty and a willingness to serve their fellow man and woman without the need for accolades.[6] | ” |
| “ | Determination and a high sense of pride when it comes to my work ethic.[6] | ” |
| “ | To truly listen to the people that you serve. They are those responsible for your election. Unfortunately, too many politicians lose sight of this once they become elected.[6] | ” |
| “ | That Illinois becomes a competitive state once again and our economic growth surpasses anyone’s expectations within the next 10 years. I am confident that we can turn things around in Illinois. We have so much to offer. If we can change some of the leadership in Springfield, instead of the same old status quo, we could accomplish so much.[6] | ” |
| “ | When President Reagan was shot. I was 4 years old watching cartoons while my mother was in the kitchen preparing dinner and suddenly the breaking news came in. I remember yelling into the kitchen to tell my Mom what had happened.[6] | ” |
| “ | I began babysitting at 12 years old for a family with 4 young children, of which the youngest was disabled. My Freshman year in high school, I was given the opportunity to work for my parish rectory making $2.25 an hour which was minimum wage back the . I received 2 raises while I worked there; each being an increase of $.25.[6] | ” |
| “ | St. Valentine’s Day because it is also my Birthday.[6] | ” |
| “ | The Bible, for obvious reasons.[6] | ” |
| “ | My kitchen because that is where we spend most of our family time together.[6] | ” |
| “ | Accepting the fact that others do not share the same pride in their work ethic. I had a supervisor once remind me that my expectations of others are too high.[6] | ” |
| “ | Michael Madigan[6] | ” |
| “ | No. In fact I believe that is a disadvantage because most politicians lose sight of what the true goal should be which is being representative of the people.[6] | ” |
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Chicago Police Department, "Gang Intervention Probation Program," accessed June 23, 2022
- ↑ Ammie for 19, "About Ammie," accessed February 8, 2018
- ↑ Vote Smart, "Ammie Kessem's Biography," accessed February 8, 2018
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Ammie Kessem's responses," September 19, 2018
- ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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