Prairie State Wire

Critics of Illinois state Rep. Terra Costa-Howard (D-Lombard) argue there’s a method to freshman lawmaker’s anger in the ongoing scandal about her personal cellphone number being made public.

“I think she’s trying to deflect from the issue of her support for unrestricted abortion and trying to make it about different issues,” a source from a group that has opposed many of her actions in Springfield and asked not be identified so that the debate is not only about politics, told the Prairie State Wire. “If you read the article she published, she wasn’t talking about the substance of the outrage. She was just on personal attacks. She knows it’s unpopular and she’s trying to make it about different issues.”

The still-brewing controversy started in June after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law the Reproductive Health Act that expands access to abortion across the state.  Costa-Howard voted in favor of the legislation, angering many in her 48th District who argue that stance resonates far different from the person she presented herself as a candidate.

Not long after, Costa-Howard wrote a letter to the editor that was published by the Lombardian, where she branded members of the Catholic church in her area “bullies” for having published her cellphone number in various church bulletins.

“Our organization, we only published the phone number of her district office that was on her site,” the source added. “It’s one church in the district that actually published a cellphone number. She made a blanket statement about all Catholic churches. It’s just disingenuous for her to call Catholics bullies, as if the church maliciously did something.”

Some critics charge it wouldn’t be the first time Costa-Howard has said one thing only to do another.

In yet another letter published in the Lombardian written by Peter Breen, whom Costa-Howard defeated last November with 53.5 percent of the vote, he charged that she has voted in lockstep with longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) after pledging she would be an independent voice.

“There’s definitely more to it and she needs to be called out for being disingenuous,” the source added. “The people of the district seem to know how disingenuous she is and how extreme she is for the district.”