Early voting is now underway across Illinois and primary Day is March 17. Steve Botsford is seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate race. Botsford works for his family’s real estate and biotech firms. He’s worked in the world of finance, and he also spent some time as a legislative assistant for a former California member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a Democrat. Botsford also worked on the 2018 attorney general campaign of Erika Harold — a Republican.
He grew up in Chicago’s northwest suburbs. He was graduated from Notre Dame University with a degree in economics and got a Master’s in applied economics from Georgetown. Then, working in finance, Botsford got a Master’s in business administration from Northwestern University.
He previously ran for the Chicago City Council in 2023. Botsford recently appeared on the 21st Show and shared his views on reforming ICE, creating more affordable housing and war with Iran.
Interview Highlights
On ICE Reform
“First off, it’s got to be no more masks, no more hidden badges. We need the ice to have warrants signed by judges. We also need to make sure that ice is only going after criminals and not just like I said, showing up at childcare facilities or Home Depots and just picking people up and seeing whether or not they have documentation. We also need independent investigations into the use of force.”
On Affordable Housing
“Illinois is too expensive across the country, but obviously I care about Illinois. It’s just too expensive, and the biggest way that we can fix that is by building more of it. That’s, you know, simple supply, supply and demand. If we increase the supply of housing, we’re going to bring down the cost. And so we need to make it easier to build where people want to live.”
On why Democrats are not connecting with young male voters
“I think some of the rhetoric across the board has gotten to the point where it just turns people off and you just don’t see it. I And people don’t care. I mean, it’s funny you talk about, like, the male loneliness crisis, and I definitely think, think it exists, but then you get people mocking it, and it’s like, All right, well, like, you know, if someone’s hurting, I, you know, you can argue like, oh, well, you still get paid more than women do. Oh, okay, you have this, this and this. But like, if someone says they’re hurting and you start giving them statistics, that’s not how you connect with somebody. You got to at least be like, Hey, I get it. I get it. This sucks.”‘
On attacking Iran
“I do not like the idea of getting us into any foreign wars or foreign entanglements. I think that putting American troops at risk is an absolute last case scenario, and I think the entering into the fray of with Iran, that is, it’s not going to be easy. Obviously they, you know, Trump, I did not, I was not supportive when we bombed the nuclear facilities. I don’t think we should be attacking countries, especially without Congress saying… giving in the sign off.”