* Rachel Hinton at the Sun-Times…

Hoping to boost his bid for the state’s highest court, Illinois Supreme Court candidate Nathaniel Howse Jr. contributed $1,000 to Ald. Carrie Austin, who is under the federal microscope, saying he acted in the name of getting out the vote and elevating “the voices of the otherwise unheard.”

Howse, who lives on the South Side in the Third Ward, gave the money Monday to Austin’s 34th Ward Regular Democratic Organization on the Far South Side.

Howse, who is an Illinois Appellate Court judge, said in a written statement that the money was “to assist them with voter registration, Get Out The Vote efforts and other grassroots activities that the organization engages in.

“I believe strongly that underrepresented communities deserve the right to be heard,” Howse said. “The 34th Ward Democratic Organization works to elevate the voices of the otherwise unheard. My donation was specifically to the 34th Ward Democratic Organization, not to any elected official or candidate’s re-election committee or personal funds.”

Austin is the chairman of the political fund.