* NBC Chicago’s Paris Schutz…
* NBC Chicago…
Democrat Hoan Huynh has no district office, he has missed several votes in Springfield, and constituents say they can’t get in touch with him — despite the fact he’s still collecting his $98,000 taxpayer salary. […]
“People who have serious needs can’t get a hold of him,” [Democratic committeeman for Chicago’s 47th Ward Paul Rosenfeld] said. “He stopped doing his current job as state representative. Stopped going to Springfield, closed his office.” […]
We also spoke with David Zoltan, a disability rights advocate. He says Huynh was the sponsor of a bill he was pushing to protect the right of people with certain medical conditions to wear masks in public, dubbed “Kiki’s Law.” But Huynh wasn’t around to advance his own bill. […]
After several text message exchanges, Rep. Huynh agreed on Friday afternoon to meet with NBC Chicago reporter Paris Schutz to answer questions on the record. He said he responds to all his constituent emails and phone calls.
“I’m very focused on constituent services, we’ve been doing it all year, so it’s my job to make sure we’re focusing on constituent services for my residents,” Huynh said.
The same flyers shown in NBC Chicago’s report were circulating around the district back in May, when Huynh’s name came up in Capitol Fax quite a bit.
After losing his March congressional primary, Rep. Huynh largely disappeared from public view. He missed deadlines to move his bills, his district office phone was disconnected and the office was quietly relocated without any public notice to constituents. Some people around the Statehouse were under the impression it had shut down entirely.
* On The Record…
Rep. Hoan Huynh has missed more votes than most colleagues, present for 67.6% of 1,566 roll calls in the 104th General Assembly. They vote with the Democratic caucus 99.9% of the time. They sponsored 27 bills, 5 of which passed.
* In May, after about a month away from the Statehouse, Huynh’s office issued this statement…
Despite wild rumors and false and malicious posters that have appeared around the district, State Representative Hoan Huynh is still working on behalf of his constituents.
State Representative Hoan Huynh laughed off the false rumors being spread to the media, allegedly by his political opponents. Huynh said, “I am not dead, I am just in Springfield working on behalf of my constituents. I am State Representative until January 2027. I just came out of a tough election and I am not running for anything right now except the voting bells.”
Recently security concerns prompted Huynh to move to a new office that provides a safer environment for both staff and any visiting constituents. The new office address is below. Constituents can call and/or email for any of their needs.
“I want to make it clear to the community, and to the perpetrators of the false rumors, that I am working hard for my community both in Springfield and in Chicago. I will not be bullied out of the commitment that I made to my district. While I won’t be serving another term as State Representative, I am and will be serving out this one.”
There have been people telling reporters that State Representative Huynh had closed his office. While that is technically true, it would be more precise to say that he closed his constituent office in Chicago and moved to a new one.
* I wrote the next day that his press release didn’t address the actual problem…
This embarrassing mess is the result of a lawmaker disappearing after a failed campaign without bothering to communicate clearly with the people he represents. If constituents cannot find your office, cannot reach your office phone and have no idea whether you are showing up to work, maybe the problem is not some random flyer.
Thoughts?
- Squeaker Welch - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 10:25 am:
Anyone want to do some research on how many other reps not returning next year are no shows ?
Wonder if it’s a bigger trend.
They should lose their pay if they don’t show up to work.
- Mad in 13 - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 10:31 am:
https://www.rephoanhuynh.com/office-locations
Still listed on his website as his district office is the WeWork in the Bridgeview Bank building. He does not, and has never, had an office there as Paris and anybody who has gone there can confirm (I have).
He also is costing nonpprofits in his district state money with his complete abdication of responsibility.
Don’t worry though, he has time to work for a billionaire at a bro-ey VC firm…
- Mad in 13 - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 10:33 am:
One of the funnier parts of the Paris piece is that Hoan is just obviously not in the 13th district during that bizarro interview he gives.
Losing elections suck as anyone in this business knows. But Hoan has to suck it up and do his job.
- Also Mad in 13 - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 10:39 am:
I will never understand why people supported this guy as a “progressive.” Every time I have met him, he just oozed Ivy League inauthenticity (while pretending that said Ivy League education somehow magically gave him policy chops). Can he just go back to California now?
- Chicago Voter - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 10:50 am:
Does the Speaker have some responsibility here? I would hope when his members “go missing” or miss too many votes, he would try to get them in line.
- Amalia - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 11:01 am:
Progessive. But won’t or can’t do the job. Sad.
- Lincoln Lad - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 11:02 am:
Step down if you can’t even go through the motions. We deserve better.
- Arsenal Fan In Andersonville - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 11:05 am:
He posted yesterday on X about watching Tottenham so he really is a loser.
- Think Again - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 11:17 am:
=Democrat Hoan Huynh has no district office, he has missed several votes in Springfield, and constituents say they can’t get in touch with him…Rep. Huynh largely disappeared from public view. He missed deadlines to move his bills, his district office phone was disconnected=
He’s a big supporter of remote work
- Amalia - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 11:20 am:
@Arsenal Fan in Andersonville….total zero.
- Frequent Commenter - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 11:21 am:
The Ward Chairs should agree to appoint the candidate who is on the ballot for November and then ask him to step down. He is an embarrassment to the institution.
- NIU Grad - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 11:32 am:
He’ll go offline for weeks on end and then start posting his thumbs up pictures from around the district in bulk whenever these stories pop up.
So much wasted political potential after winning a surprise victory in 2022. The man just never wanted to do the actual work of being a State Rep.
- Just Me 2 - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 11:38 am:
Can Greg Harris come back for just a few months please?
- Team Sleep - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 11:38 am:
I’ve been involved in or around this business for a long time, and it’s tough to remember a non-scandal situation as bizarre as this one.
- old man poodle owner - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 12:03 pm:
How is Carol Ammons doing in missed votes?
- Mad in 13 - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 12:08 pm:
The uncovered story of all of this is how he’s already doing extremely shady banking work with a shady billionairs.
- Leslie Dimas - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 12:12 pm:
Hi, can I ask why my comment was deleted?
- ALIGNI - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 12:19 pm:
As a constituent of his, it is shameful. Demi, the dem nominee for November, is already showing up all over the place and hosting regular community gatherings. Rep Huynh should step down and let our next rep who is actually doing the work officially start.
- Candy Dogood - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 12:21 pm:
Not for nothing, but does he still have his district staff? What are they doing? Where are they working? What are they working on?
Are they violating any state rules or laws? Are they reporting their time as required by statute? Are they actually working during those hours? Are they actually working for the public during those hours?
===Don’t worry though, he has time to work for a billionaire at a bro-ey VC firm…===
Gotta keep up with the rich kids.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 1:37 pm:
===Hi, can I ask why my comment was deleted? ===
It wasn’t deleted, it was held for moderation and I chose not to let it go through because of this line…
===We all know this is about the Speaker and the next Speaker’s race.===
That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Demi will be sworn in before the vote for House Speaker.
Do better.
- Katie - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 1:58 pm:
I live one state house district over and always had a generally positive impression of him from what little I knew, maybe a little bit of an Argyle St. Alderman Gayle vibe if there are any South Side fans here, but whatever. Having that impression go from “peppy guy I see around at street faire and ribbon cuttings” to “possibly the single weirdest person on earth” was easily my favorite storyline from the 9th district congressional race. Milngavie Freuchie will always be immortal in my house!
- Rich Miller - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 1:59 pm:
===had a generally positive impression of him from what little I knew===
Several people did. But the guy was a lightweight in the House, never did a whole lot and was always looking up the road for his first off-ramp.
You can’t fool all the people all of the time
- Also Mad in 13 - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 2:42 pm:
The best part about Milngavie Freuchie was that it was recycled from his state rep campaign.
- low level - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 2:51 pm:
This reminds me of Shirley Jones. No one knew where she was or who she was. Or even what a state rep was.
- Mad in 13 - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 2:53 pm:
==Several people did.==
Including many commenters on this very blog…
- Unionman - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 2:54 pm:
This does not surprise me at all. During the campaign he showed up in the very Orthodox Jewish West Ridge neighborhood on Saturday mornings. Showing he completely lacked the understanding of who the constituency was. If you want to convince people to vote for you, maybe don’t pick the one morning a week that they really don’t want to talk politics.
- granville - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 3:39 pm:
It’s not in the text from the article but if you watch the video, Huynh seems completely unhinged and the camera cuts away to Paris Schutz who says:
“Now at one point Representative Huynh turned to the camera and gave out his personal cell phone number, but for safety reasons we decided not to use that.”
- Mark VIII - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 4:46 pm:
==But the guy was a lightweight in the House, never did a whole lot and was always looking up the road for his first off-ramp. You can’t fool all the people all of the time==
I came here to say how utterly pointless it was to try and deal with Huynh at the Capitol, but the above comment pretty much sums it up nicely.
I can’t recall another legislator who would keep scheduling meetings at their Capitol office then keep cancelling them or not showing up over and over and over.
Get someone in there who respects the job, their constituents, and public service.
- ALIGNI - Monday, Sep 14, 26 @ 8:27 pm:
Interesting - I got a newsletter from the Rep tonight. First time since mid-December 2025. Seems he does in fact want to keep the appearance up that he is the Rep.