Illinois Senate President Don Harmon continues piling up
campaign money. His latest quarterly report for his personal campaign committee
showed Harmon had $13.4 million in the bank, up almost $2 million from the
previous quarter. His caucus committee ended with $2.6 million in the bank, up
about $800,000 from the previous quarter. And his two other committees held a
combined $1 million.
As I write this on Oct. 18, Harmon’s personal committee
has reported raising $777,000 this month. No contributions have been reported
from that committee this month. Harmon’s caucus committee has brought in a bit
over $2 million, most of that from Gov. JB Pritzker, and about $1.4 million in
expenditures have been reported.
That means the Senate leader is sitting on about $18
million for the home stretch. And since Harmon really has only one race (Sen.
Patrick Joyce of Essex), which isn’t really that competitive, it looks like
he’ll be banking most of that cash for 2026. For sure, he’ll spend some of it
this fall, but he’ll head into the next cycle with a massive cash lead.
By comparison, Senate Republican Leader John Curran ended
the third quarter with a bit over $1.9 million, up about $400,000 at the end of
the previous quarter. He moved about $700,000 of what he raised to his caucus
committee, the Senate Republican Victory Fund. That committee ended the quarter
with about $163,000.
Curran’s personal committee has reported raising $127,000
this month and his caucus committee has pulled in $335,000, with $313,000 of
that coming from Leader Curran. The caucus committee has made about $25,000 in
contributions this month.
All that gives Leader Curran about $2.2 million to spend
in the home stretch, meaning Harmon has almost a 9-1 cash advantage.
House Speaker Chris Welch spent about $6.9 million during
the third quarter out of his personal campaign fund, raised $4.5 million and
ended with $5 million in the bank. Democrats for the Illinois House raised
about $4.8 million, spent $3.8 million and ended with $2.1 million in the bank.
Welch’s township committee raised $100,000 from various law firms, spent $42,000
and ended with $251,000 in the bank.
As I write this, Welch’s personal committee has reported
$402,000 in contributions and moved $4 million into his caucus account. Aside
from that, Democrats for the Illinois House has reported raising $2.1 million,
mainly from Gov. Pritzker, and has contributed $1.9 million.
That gives Speaker Welch about $7.8 million to spend in
the closing weeks.
House Republican Leader Toni McCombie raised $950,000
during the quarter, spent $1.8 million and ended with $614,000 in the bank. The
House Republican Organization raised $2.2 million (about $1.7 million from McCombie),
spent $2.2 million and ended with just $91,000 in the bank.
So far this month, McCombie’s personal committee has
reported raising $256,000 and has contributed $450,000, all to HRO. Including
that money, the House Republican Organization has reported raising $857,000 so
far in October and has contributed $606,000.
That gives McCombie only $762,000 left to spend for the
remaining three weeks. Welch has a 10-1 cash advantage.
Meanwhile, all four legislative leaders are currently not
bound by state campaign contribution limitations on their personal committees
because they have contributed or loaned those funds more than $100,000. As you
would expect, the Democratic leaders are doing far better than the Republicans.
Senate President Harmon busted the caps in January of
2023 with a $168,000 contribution to his personal fund. Since then, his
campaign account has reported raising $8.8 million in contributions above the
standard $68,500 limit for political action committees.
House Speaker Welch nullified his contribution caps in
late March of 2023 with a $100,001 loan to his fund, which was paid back to him
a couple of weeks later. Welch has since reported raising about $6.9 million in
contributions above the standard limit.
Senate Republican Leader Curran busted the caps on Aug.
12 with a $100,001 loan, a debt he was still carrying on his latest report.
Curran has raised just $342,000 in contributions above the standard limit.
House Republican Leader McCombie busted her caps in late
March of this year with a $100,001 loan, which her campaign paid back to her a
few days later. She has since reported raising $650,000 above the standard
caps.
So, the Democratic leaders have used the state’s cap
workaround law to raise a net total of $15.6 million, while the Republican
leaders have raised a net of just $792,000 (once Curran’s loan is eventually
paid back). That’s a 20-1 Democratic advantage.
This is all ridiculously lopsided.
This article appears in Citizens want a voice in CWLP.
