The DuPage County Republican Party has opened a new line of attack against Democratic state House candidate Saba Haider.
The party is linking her to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
DuPage County GOP Chair Kevin Coyne said the comparison to Ocasio-Cortez, a prominent figure in the party’s progressive wing, should alarm voters in the district.
“If AOC is the DuPage Democrats new standard bearer we should all be very worried,” Coyne told the DuPage Policy Journal.
“People come to America because it is a capitalist land filled with opportunity. You’ll never read about anyone trying to sneak into a socialist country.”
Coyne framed the comparison as part of a broader warning about the direction of the local Democrat Party.
“Socialism has failed throughout history and the fact that DuPage Democrats embrace this failed political ideology is shocking and dangerous,” Coyne said.
The county party’s official X account, @DuPageCountyGOP, amplified the message in a post this month.
The post included a photo showing Haider posing with Ocasio-Cortez.
“Do DuPage residents really want a protege of AOC representing their interests in Springfield? Ask the Democrat candidate for the 84th District, Saba Haider (pictured with AOC below), if she too embraces socialism, supports defunding the police, and supports open borders,” the post reads.
The party used the same post to promote Haider’s Republican opponent, Brian Scopa.
“We have a tremendous candidate running in the 84th District, Brian Scopa! Brian was a Commander in the U.S. Navy and protected America while leading our sailors during a time of war,” the post continued.
“Reject far left socialism. Vote for Brian Scopa in the 84th!”
The claims come as the two candidates for Illinois House District 84 head toward the Nov. 3 general election.
There is no incumbent in the 84th District contest.
Scopa ran unopposed in the March 17 Republican primary, taking 100% of the vote, 2,474 votes in all.
Haider won a contested Democratic primary that same day, defeating Jared Ploger 63.5% to 36.5%, or 6,601 votes to 3,794, out of 10,395 cast.
Scopa is a retired U.S. Navy commander with 22 years of service, including six combat deployments, according to his campaign website. He campaigns on school improvement, fiscal discipline and public safety.
Haider, a DuPage County Board member, has not addressed the “AOC” characterization directly.
However, her record shows an alignment with positions held by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). On taxes, her campaign site calls for making “billionaires and corporations pay their fair share.”
In a Chicago Sun-Times questionnaire, she said she opposes raising income or sales taxes until “large corporations and high-income earners” contribute more first.
She also opposes property-tax freezes for large developments such as sports stadiums.
On immigration, Haider says she’s defending “immigrant communities from ICE terror.”
She has criticized the federal Operation Midway Blitz effort as driven by “fear and uncertainty.”
She supports shielding courthouses and schools from immigration enforcement and strengthening the TRUST Act, which limits local and state cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Her platform does not call for eliminating immigration enforcement or open borders as a formal position.
Her campaign backers include SEIU, SMART, the Illinois Nurses Association, IBEW Local 701, the Associated Firefighters of Illinois, ICIRR, the Illinois Women’s Democratic Caucus and Planned Parenthood Action Council.
She is also backed by U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL), several sitting state legislators and the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board.
Conservative critics, including the NRCC and Illinois Review, have called Underwood’s voting record “far-left” and “more liberal than the Squad” based on interest-group scorecards, though she isn’t a member of that informal group.
Haider also drew primary support from American Future PAC, a super PAC funded by DraftKings and FanDuel.
That PAC spent over $2.5 million across ten Illinois races to back candidates opposed to letting municipalities tax the sports-betting industry.
