* I’m told that the Illinois AFL-CIO went neutral in this congressional primary race today, which is good news for Raja considering this development…

Today the Noland for Congress campaign announced that AFSCME Council 31 has endorsed their campaign for Congress. AFSCME Council 31 is one of the largest unions in the state of Illinois. They represent over 100,000 active and retired members.

“At a time when public employees are constantly under appreciated and under attack I’ve been proud to stand up for the working men and women that keep our state running,” said Senator Mike Noland. “Bruce Rauner has made AFSCME and public employees his number one scapegoat. I’ve stood up against his turnaround agenda and when I go to Congress I will continue to stand up for policies that support working families.”

AFSCME Council 31 are the latest member of organized labor to endorse Noland’s campaign. They join the, American Postal Workers Union Local 3140’s executive board, Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois, Bricklayers Administrative District Council of Illinois, Sheet Metal Workers State Council, SMART Transportation Division (formerly United Transportation Union), Fox Valley Building Trades, Elgin Trades Council, IFT Local 1211 (Northwest Suburban Teachers Union), Operating Engineers Local 399, Painters District Council 14 & 30, and Teamsters Joint Council 25. Noland’s campaign has also announced that over 75 elected officials have endorsed his campaign including Senate President John J. Cullerton and former Senate President Emil Jones Jr.

* In other campaign news…

For the third consecutive quarter since entering the race, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Tammy Duckworth increased her fundraising haul and brought in thousands of new grassroots individual donors, raising $1.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. The campaign received over 20,800 individual contributions this quarter, the median amount of which was just $20. Duckworth announced her campaign for Senate at the end of March, and thus far has raised more than $4.7 million from contributions this cycle. The campaign has $3.65 million on hand.

“Tammy continues to articulate a vision for a state and country that looks after its people and grows from the middle out rather than the top down, and it’s clearly resonating,” Tammy for Illinois campaign manager Kaitlin Fahey said. “We’re very excited about the growth and durability of our grassroots fundraising network, which is essential to building a campaign that’s built to win. Once again we’re excited to demonstrate that our campaign will be powered by the everyday Illinoisans Tammy will serve in the U.S. Senate, as opposed to the Wall Street and corporate special interests that fund Senator Kirk’s campaigns.”

Some key highlights from the report, which will be filed with the Senate Office of Public Records and Federal Elections Commission in advance of the January 31st deadline:

The campaign received 20,856 individual contributions in the fourth quarter, and has received 55,504 individual contributions overall
Of those 4Q contributions, 94.7 percent were for $100 or less
The average individual contribution was $66, and the median individual contribution was $20

The Illinois Senate race is consistently ranked as the top race in the country, and Senator Kirk is routinely listed as the most vulnerable Senate incumbent. In the third quarter of 2015, Duckworth out-raised Kirk by $400,000, and outpaced the only primary opponent who had filed to that point by more than $1 million. Kirk has not publicly released his fourth quarter fundraising numbers.