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Shenanigans? Heidner campaign sent political solicitation letter to mayor’s taxpayer-funded office
Friday, Mar 6, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * Homer Glen Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike is Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Heidner’s running mate. The Heidner campaign sent this letter to at least one mayor at his official municipal office. Click the pic for a larger image…  The letter’s conclusion…
First, it seems a bit late in the game to be trying to build a coalition. Second, is sending a campaign mailer to an official government address even legal? * Isabel reached out to Illinois State Board of Elections spokesperson Matt Dietrich. His reply…
The 1st Amendment probably protects the campaign’s speech on this matter. But the mayors wouldn’t be able to reply with their official government emails. The mayoral recipient, who is a Democrat, called the mailer “unethical.” Your thoughts?
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- Excitable Boy - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 10:03 am:
I think this is a wise and valuable use of time and resources for the Heidner campaign.
- Alton Sinkhole - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 10:03 am:
It shows how dumb they are, but ultimately, I can’t bring myself to care about this even a little.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 10:11 am:
I haven’t been on a campaign in a long time, but I don’t think this is illegal or unethical. I know it is kind of lazy. It isn’t hard these days to find alternate addresses for mayors instead of writing them at city hall or some other taxpayer paid office.
- Sox Fan - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 10:12 am:
My city bias is showing. I thought this was specifically referencing Mayor Brandon Johnson. Shouldn’t the apostrophe come after the ’s’ in mayors?
- Chrissie - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 10:34 am:
Rookie mistake. In a month I will have forgotten the name Heidner.
- Steve - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 10:38 am:
Rick probably will not make it to be Governor of Illinois , his talents lie elsewhere.
- Ducky LaMoore - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 10:40 am:
Illegal? No. Unethical? Maybe. Dumb? Absolutely. I still can’t believe I believe this: I am happily awaiting Darren Bailey being the nominee.
- Casper the Ghost Bus - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 10:41 am:
Sloppy campaign mailing lists, or an operation and candidate that doesn’t know the difference between government and political offices?
- Candy Dogood - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 10:49 am:
===Your thoughts? ===
Unethical and illegal are two very different things. I don’t think this is illegal. I think the 1st Amendment would cover this activity.
I also don’t think a campaign contacting a mayors office is unethical. It probably isn’t smart and it might not be appreciated because the mayor could have a gray area responding to it.
They’ve received an official campaign mailer requesting that they participate in a partisan political activity at their public office and presumably the letter may have been opened and reviewed by a public employee. My recommendation for this kind of correspondence would be to shred it and take no action in relation to the letter, or otherwise ignore that it was received.
If I were a mayor receiving this kind of correspondence, even from someone I really liked, this would be very frustrating. Especially if they’re running for an office like governor. I would also question the competency of a campaign that wasn’t able to look me up in the voter file and get my home mailing address that way.
Ducky’s right. This is pretty dumb.
- H-W - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 11:05 am:
I am not of the mind that it is unethical to send political tracts to politicians. Since politicians keep their personal emails separate and private, using the registry of elected officers seems rational and would seem perfectly legal.
On the other hand, I could see this as a way in which some people will be caught by responding directly from their office emails, warned, and made to take those confounded ethics tests online again.
- Think Again - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 11:06 am:
=mayoral recipient, who is a Democrat, called the mailer “unethical.=
A couple of comments - Probably not that unusual for a mailer to accidentally get to a mayor’s official address rather than home. Secondly im most places in Illinois, elections for mayor are under the commission or council-manager form and are non-partisan.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 11:32 am:
===accidentally===
Sure, Jan.
C’mon.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 11:33 am:
===are non-partisan===
You are one of the kings of red herrings in this comment section. That has nothing to do with this.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 11:34 am:
===I can’t bring myself to care about this even a little===
And yet you commented.
lol
- Homebody - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 11:49 am:
This just doesn’t seem like a particularly big deal to me. I think sending it to official offices is tacky, and it may mean the mayors can’t or shouldn’t respond in their official capacity, sure. But someone running for a state level job getting support from mayors seems like a completely normal, reasonable thing to do as part of campaigning.
It may be being done in a hamfisted, inexperienced way, and that may be a sign of the type of campaign management experience these two have (or more specifically that their campaign staff has), but it doesn’t seem particularly out-there.
- Roadrager - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 12:02 pm:
You don’t get to be a video gambling magnate by concerning yourself with trifling things like “ethics,” so why would Rick start now?
He’s lucky this has turned out to be nothing more than a vanity campaign. If he had a shot at winning, people might start looking into his business.
- Rudy’s teeth - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 12:08 pm:
Wow, stationery dedicated to a campaign for governor…fancy. Prefer this to the pop-up ads ruining viewing on YouTube.
- Frida's Boss - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 1:35 pm:
Meh a nothing burger.
“Unethical” - just trying to create a news story against the other side. Throw it away if you don’t want it or don’t support them. If you’re so worried, call the campaign and let them know not to send you anything anymore.
- August West - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 1:41 pm:
It wouldn’t be that complex to find Mayors’ home addresses. This was a weird decision to send them to government addresses.
- Demoralized - Friday, Mar 6, 26 @ 2:50 pm:
I’m more interested in the fact that their letterhead doesn’t list them as candidates. It lists them as Governor and Lt. Governor.