* The first round of fundraising for new candidates is the people on their personal contact lists. So, this isn’t too surprising. And since it’s St. Clair County, it ain’t a surprise on another level, either…

Illinois U.S. House 12th District candidate C.J. Baricevic has gotten most of his campaign funding from attorneys who work in the Belleville-based court system headed by his father, according to a newspaper’s recent analysis.

The Democratic candidate, whose father is 20th Judicial Circuit Chief John Baricevic, has received more than $246,000 from lawyers and others associated with more than 70 law firms, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. One of those firms has donated more than $37,000 through its lawyers and employees, including secretaries who gave the top allowable contribution of $2,700 each.

“It is clear that C.J. Baricevic has far more support in the trial lawyer community than he does among the majority of 12th District voters,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Zach Hunter said in statement.

While Republicans raise concerns about a conflict of interest, C.J. Baricevic said the support from lawyers comes from him being a partner in the Belleville law firm Chatham and Baricevic.

* More…

His father, Judge Baricevic, vehemently disputed any connection between his position as chief judge and his son’s strong support from attorneys. He said the chief judge’s official authority to assign cases to other judges was in practice carried out by people under him.

“Call any lawyer, call any judge. I do not interfere with the normal process” of assigning cases to other judges, he said last week. “You won’t find one lawyer who will make that accusation, because it’s unfounded.”

No one has alleged that Judge Baricevic has improperly meddled in case assignments. But critics say the lawyer-donors’ unusual generosity toward his son raises the question of whether those attorneys feel pressure to give.

“Common sense would tell you if you give money to the chief judge’s son, he’s going to like you, and if you don’t, he won’t,” said Belleville City Clerk Dallas Cook, a Republican who is running for 20th Judicial Circuit clerk and is suing to get Judge Baricevic removed from a judicial ballot this year in an unrelated election dispute.