Follow the campaign money
by Fran Eaton
So, let's follow the campaign money a little more today . . .
The Illinois Republican Party has raised about $1.5 million since July.
Almost $1 million was from Minority Senate Leader Frank Watson's Republican Senate Campaign Committee and $180,000 was from Minority House Leader Tom Cross' own campaign chest.
One major GOP donation from a political action committee was the D.C.-based Institute for Legal Reform, which gave a single donation of $575,000 in October. The ILR promotes tort reform.
In comparison, the Democratic Party of Illinois raised $2,801,450 this reporting period. Most of the party's funds came from individual lawmakers' war chests.
Over the past few weeks, Mike Madigan, who is House Speaker as well as chairman of the state's Democratic Party, has spent almost $700,000 on House and Senate races.
If you follow the money as an indicator of where the Dems feel they need to invest their largesse, as of October 8, State Rep. Mike Boland received $100K, State Rep Bob Flider $110K, Careen Gordon $70K, Kurt Granberg $60K and Mike Smith $300K. More is likely to be on the way.
The Institute for Legal Reform, isn't that a Chamber of Commerce affiliate?
If you really want to follow the money, report on where their money goes. See if it doesn't go from the state party to a few judicial races. The money gets washed an extra time so that the business interests don't have the direct ties to the judicial campaigns. But a quarter says the paper trail will be pretty obvious.
Hey, I'm just the messenger.
Posted by: What's the Point? | Thursday, October 26, 2006 at 01:59 PM
Good point "WTP?"
Illinois' laws are so loose money could go to Watson or Madigan and (with a wink-wink) head off to who knows where...
Posted by: NW burbs | Thursday, October 26, 2006 at 03:59 PM
Great article, Fran.
It appears evident that the IllGOP got bupkus from the national party.
I had heard that Andy McKenna (aka: the great Buddha) had been ordained because of his fund raising abilities from his Republican friends...and the reason we were hearing nothing from him was that he was scrambling for donations from the upper income faithful.
Evidently not. Either they are in disagreement with the party, or those wells have dried up.
And nothing from Jim Edgar the Eunuch Yoda from Charleston? What is he hording his campaign money for?
Where do we go from here? Is the IllGOP essential bankrupot of money as well as ideas?
Posted by: Truthful James | Friday, October 27, 2006 at 08:57 AM