As candidates boost their campaigns with just more than 75 days until election day, the need for fuel only grows. That fuel, whether that be for campaign events, advertising, or quite literally for gas expenditures, is campaign finance contributions.
In the financial battle, Democrats are well in front in the governor, secretary of state, attorney general and comptroller races in terms of available funds as of the latest quarterly campaign finance report released in July.
As Illinois Republican leadership claimed last week, this is a change from the past as they are no longer the party of the wealthy – rather being the “party of working families.”
“Now, the Democrats represent woke corporations, other elites, and special interests that have the money that dominates places like Illinois,” said party chair Don Tracy last Thursday at the Illinois Republican Party State Central Committee meeting in Springfield.
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Having this identity, however, represents a major challenge for the GOP heading into November: fundraising.
Pritzker’s wealth carries his campaign, fellow Democrats
The Democrats are carried in many ways by the personal wealth of Gov. JB Pritzker, whose campaign committee had more than $27 million in expenditures in the April 1 through June 30 quarter. More than $2.5 million was transferred to Democrats throughout the state, including three $500,000 contributions to the Democratic Party of Illinois.
Spending in this quarter has already amassed $5.5 million, as JB For Governor has contributed $1.5 million to DPI, $1 million to the Senate Democrats’ ISDF, and $3 million to the Democrats for the Illinois House as first reported by Capitol Fax.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey, comparatively, had $9.2 million in expenditures for the prior quarter. Seventeen contributions to fellow Republicans also came from the Bailey for Illinois campaign for a total of $17,128.
While Bailey labels Pritzker as “out of touch” because of the Democratic governor’s inherited wealth, he likely wants those with similar financial status to be in touch with his campaign. During the primaries, mega-donor Ken Griffin contributed $50 million to Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, but, since his move to Florida, has yet to contribute to the GOP gubernatorial ticket.
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An endorsement from former President Donald Trump was helpful for Bailey, who won the June 28 primary with 55% of the vote over the other five candidates on the ballot. Yet, also playing a role was the more than $8 million the Republican received from Richard Uihlein – heir to the Schlitz beer fortune and co-founder of Uline with his wife, Elizabeth.
Like Griffin, Uihlein has yet to send funds directly to the Bailey campaign since the primary – the largest sum received being two $50,000 contributions. This exceeds any contributions to Pritzker, who is mostly self-funding his campaign, but with $60.8 million on hand as of the latest quarterly report his need for funds is not as great. Bailey had $363,918 available at the end of the quarter.
Local candidates
Races for the Illinois General Assembly understandably don’t attract the big money like for top-of-the-ballot candidates, but money plays a role nevertheless.
State Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, closed out the quarter with the most amount of available funds of the local legislators and has already started receiving funds in this quarter. Finishing the quarter with $467,172 in available funds, nearly $400,000 more than Republican opponent and current Rep. Sandy Hamilton of Springfield, the Friends of Doris Turner campaign saw major donations including $52,400 from IBEW Illinois PAC and two contributions from the Illinois Laborers’ Legislative Committee totaling $33,900.
This quarter, ISDF has provided several contribution to Friends of Doris Turner – most notably a $325,750 donation reported on Aug. 12.
The Senate Republican Victory Fund provided three donations last month to the Sandy for Senate campaign totaling more than $5,550. Last quarter, Hamilton received several transfers of $1,500 from Dent-IL PAC, Farmers Employee and Agent Illinois PAC, and IFAPAC IL. The campaign ended the quarter with $80,252.
Analysis of the post-primary quarterly campaign disclosures by local legislators also revealed some shared donors despite party affiliation and major funding sources.
A common donor among Democrats and Republicans was Springfield-based Ameren Illinois PAC. Ameren, an electricity and natural gas provider covering 75% of the state according to its website, distributed $41,000 in transfers last quarter primarily among GOP candidates.
While its largest donation was the $15,000 it sent to the House Republican majority, Democrats Sen. Doris Turner and Senate President Don Harmon also were beneficiaries. State Sen. Sally Turner, R-Bleason, and state Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, also received contributions from Ameren.
In response to why it supports both Democrat and Republican candidates, a spokesperson with Ameren Illinois said it backs candidates who share views with the company.
“Specifically, we support candidates who share our goal of providing safe, reliable, cost-efficient energy delivery,” the spokesperson said in a released statement. “Such candidates will best represent the interests of our customers, our co-workers, the communities we serve and the state.”
Sen. Doris Turner received $2,000 from Ameren PAC, while Butler received two contributions totaling $3,500 and Sen. Sally Turner obtained $1,000. In this quarter, state Rep. CD Davidsmeyer received $3,000 from the group according to a July 22 campaign disclosure.
Butler is now running unopposed in Illinois House District 95. His largest contribution was $5,000 from Comcast Financial Agency Corp. He had $139,386 in available funds at the end of the quarter. Sen. Sally Turner had $38,185 available and the $1,500 she received from the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois PAC was her largest contribution.
The $211,024 Davidsmeyer had on hand at the end of the quarter was the second-most of local candidates with Airsman-Hires Funeral Homes’ $2,000 being the highest donation. State Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, trailed narrowly with $203,021 but held a significant margin over GOP opponent Lisa Smith in the House District 96 race.
Facing competition in the primaries, but winning convincingly over Donald Debolt, was state Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield. McClure’s $12,377 in available funds was the lowest of all local candidates, but he also had the most contributions by far.
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The Republican senator received multiple contributions exceeding $30,000, where the lion’s share of transferred funds came from the ChicagoLand Operators Joint Labor Management PAC. The Countryside-based committee had nearly $1 million in expenditures last quarter spanning both sides of the political aisle, including $150,000 to Harmon.
The four contributions to McClure totaled $97,000, highlighted by a $50,000 contribution in late June. With funds coming from the Realtor Political Action Committee ($45,000), and the Illinois Political Action Committee for Education ($50,000), transfers coming into the Friends of Steve McClure campaign were more than $250,000 greater than the prior filing quarter.
Contact Patrick Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter
