A disagreement between U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, and Indivisible McHenry County resulted in a last-minute cancellation of a conversation between the congressman and members of the group.

Sue Rose, the communications lead and a member of the Indivisible McHenry County steering committee, said the group worked for several weeks trying to arrange the gathering. After agreeing on a number of details, the event was scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at a local church.

Rose said she spoke with a representative of Schneider’s campaign several times last week and thought there was an agreement on the format and the list of people who would be attending. Then the event fell apart.

“At 4 p.m. Friday, I got a call canceling,” Rose said. “He is no longer interested in speaking at the event due to his discomfort over some of the people who registered to attend the event,” she added, using language from an email informing registrants of the cancellation.

Schneider’s reelection campaign canceled Indivisible McHenry County’s  “Conversation with Congressman Brad Schneider” on Friday afternoon for the event less than 24 hours before it was scheduled to take place in McHenry.

Cait McNamee, a spokesperson for Schneider’s campaign, said in an email Monday that it is unfortunate the event fell apart after several conversations between both sides.

“It is disappointing that some are trying to mischaracterize the facts,” McNamee said.

Rose said Indivisible originally asked Schneider to do a town hall with its members, but he did not want to call it a town hall so they agreed to characterize it as a conversation. She said participants would not speak —  They would write questions on an index card and a moderator would read them.

Initially, the Schneider campaign suggested doing the event virtually, but Rose said his campaign agreed on Jan. 21 to a live event. The following day, she said, the campaign asked for a list of attendees. She said she was told the purpose of the list was related to security concerns.

“I marked on it who was known to me and who was unknown,” Rose said. “They said they wanted the sergeant-at-arms to look at it for security purposes.”

When Indivisible McHenry County held a town hall with U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville,
Rose said registration was also required for those planning to attend.

Among the people registered to attend Schneider’s appearance was his opponent in the March 17 Democratic primary Morgan Coghill of Mundelein, and some members of Coghill’s family. Rose said Coghill is a member of Indivisible McHenry County.

Less than 24 hours before the scheduled event, Rose said she got a call from Schneider’s campaign canceling the event. She said she was told it was because of some of the people on the list, including Coghill. She offered possible alternatives, but the answer was firm.

“I suggested a Zoom rather than doing it in person,” Rose said. “They said no. We had 80 people signed up and they had to be informed. I was on the phone with our steering committee and we agreed on the language,” she added, referring to the “discomfort” comment. “We believe in transparency.”

McNamee said in her email that the event was supposed to be “a casual conversation between Brad Schneider and their members.” Learning about Coghill’s presence made a difference in what the event would be, she said.

“The campaign team was surprised to learn that Indivisible McHenry had invited the congressman’s opponent to participate in the program, effectively turning what was to be a conversation with Congressman Schneider about recent events and his votes into a debate with his opponent,” she said.

For people who want to hear Schneider and Coghill discuss issues of importance to voters in the 10th Congressional  District, the two are scheduled to participate in an online forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Lake County on Feb. 19.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/27/brad-schneider-indivisible-mchenry-county/