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Kirk raises a bundle and McKenna hit for a trifling sum

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Illinois

Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk says he’s raised nearly $1.9 million since October in his bid for President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat.

Kirk’s campaign on Thursday also said the five-term congressman from Chicago’s northern suburbs has more than $3 million in his campaign bank account.

* Democrat Julie Hamos, who is running to replace Kirk in the 10th District, just sent out a press release claiming to have raised $535,000 during the latest filing period.

We’ll probably have more of these financial reports as the day goes along.

* Speaking of money, check out these two ledes…

Andy McKenna, Jr., appears to be raising money in violation of the state’s new campaign reform law, taking contributions from state contractors who aren’t allowed to give, one of his rivals for the GOP gubernatorial nomination is charging.

And…

In a campaign where every candidate is championing ethics and reform, a review of early fundraising reports shows many of those seeking to be governor are taking money from companies receiving taxpayer dollars.

We have the obligatory statement from a goo-goo…

“On the face of it, it looks like [Mr. McKenna] is afoul of the law,” said Cindi Canary, executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, one of the groups which lobbied heavily last year for tightened limits on pay-to-play politics in the wake of the Blagojevich scandal. Principals in companies that hold more than $50,000 in state contracts “aren’t supposed to give” to candidates for statewide offices which administer those contracts, she said.

And the statement from the rival candidate who discovered the contributions…

“Whether improperly using state GOP funds to advance his own interests or flouting state campaign finance laws, Andy McKenna clearly believes the rules don’t apply to him,” said conservative Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft. “McKenna is spending millions of dollars, some of it apparently raised illicitly, to lie to Illinois GOP primary voters. He labels himself an outsider while playing the same insider, pay-to-play politics that has destroyed Illinois’ economy and has one former governor in federal prison with another on his way.”

But here’s the most important point…

If a violation is found, the candidate will have to write a check for the donated amount to the state’s general revenue fund. The company could lose its state business if three violations occur within 36 months.

It is up to the company to tell the candidate it has state business.

Rupert Borgsmiller, assistant executive director of the Illinois State Board of Elections, said his agency isn’t in charge of policing the donations or checking to see if they come from state contractors.

When it comes to meting out punishment, Borgsmiller said that would fall to the various state managers who handle contract awards. [Emphasis added.]

Under the law, the onus to disclose is on the contributor. The candidate has to write a check to the state if the contribution was in violation of state law, but the contractor is the one who faces the real punishment.

Also, we’re talking a total of about $16,000 here. Not a lot of cash. McKenna’s campaign responds…

In response, the McKenna campaign is suggesting that some donors may have merely tripped up on a complicated new law.

In a statement, Team McKenna said that it carefully notifies donors of campaign rules and will return any improper gifts “when someone inadvertently made a contribution they should not have made.”

* In other campaign news, Dan Hynes was endorsed by the Daily Herald. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Judy Baar Topinka were endorsed by the Sun-Times.

* Related…

* GOP front runners absent from debates

* Unfiltered: GOP Candidates for IL Governor Debate

* Civil GOP Debate Focuses on Jobs and Cuts, Not Quinn

* A cut Schillerstrom wants to stop

* Schillerstrom says being social moderate gives him edge in governor’s race

* Ill. Republican candidate for governor says Democrats want change

* GOP gubernatorial candidate Schillerstrom touts his experience during Decatur stop

* Widespread interest in little-used state office

* Todd Stroger throws a few punches back

* Fritchey backs Preckwinkle for Cook president

* GOP rivals cite background in county board of review race

* Cronin for DuPage

* Taylor, Wyatt on opposite sides of video gambling in Kane Co. District 5

* Candidates debate ‘gravy train’ issue on water district

* Primaries await some Boone County Republicans

* Ex-vice president Dan Quayle endorses Robert Dold for U.S. Congress

* Ex-veep Quayle stumps for former staffer in 10th Dist. race

* 10th District Republican primary

* 10th District Democratic primary

* 9th District GOP candidates sound off on health care reform, economy

* 11th Congressional District: 5 Republicans outline plans on taxes, health care

* 3 GOP candidates for 69th District rep focus on state finances

* Democratic candidates turn out to meet local voters

* Some judicial candidates object to bar ratings

* Bar group announces judicial poll results

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 10:01 am

Comments

But can Team McKenna return the improper gift, or do they have to write a check?

Comment by KeepSmiling Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 10:21 am
So much for the conservative hope Pat Hughes who got his you know what handed to him by Andy Martin last night.

I’m rooting for Hamos, I’m ready to see Dan Seals get his first job in 6 years.

Comment by shore Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 10:22 am
If the McKenna/Murphy tandem allows eithics violations like these to slip through the cracks while they’re running in a primary, then what might slip through while they’re running the state?

I don’t care how much money McKenna spends, he still won’t be able to inspire anyone but the political consultants that he’s paying to run his campaign. The guy is a low-talker, monotone and barely moves his lips. He reminds me of a very boring William Macey-Tim Robbins combo.

I’ll bet Matt Murphy is wishing he’d never jumped on this train. At least Matt can go back to his senate seat and suing businesses around the state when he loses the primary. He may be suing McKenna by the time this thing’s over!

Comment by Follow the money Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 10:26 am
===eithics violations like these===

You apparently did not read the post and/or are a hyper partisan. Take a breath.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 10:31 am
Hughes has turned out to be a disappointment even to the wing nuts who tried to anoint him the ‘great right hope.’

His campaign has been nothing other than sucking up to the most extreme right wingers and engaging in mudslinging.

Andy Martin may have aired the outrageous attacks on Kirk, but they are the product of Hughes’ backers.

Kirk will still have work to do with the conservative base, but once this cast of fringe candidates is out of the way he’ll make much more progress.

Comment by E Pluribus Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 10:31 am
===
…$1.9 million since October…
===

Amazing.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 10:32 am
Sorry that last one was from me.

I thought Arrington did very well yesterday. I really loved the story about his Dad starting a bus company without a bus. What a great family and candidate!

Comment by The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 10:36 am
$16,000 is a lot in this primary …

Comment by P. Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 10:37 am
What’s the minimum Kirk needs to November? $12 million?

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 10:39 am
The Daily Herald endorsement is pretty funny..they waffle once again on gambling expansion and they offer the standard undefined reference to taking on Madigan…and they wonder why no one listens.

Comment by CircularFiringSquad Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 10:39 am
“16,000 is a lot in this primary…”

Actually, not really. When you have a guy like Andy reportedly spending hundreds of thousands a week on media, that’s kinda a paltry sum in the scheme of things.

This appears to be the first entaglement of a new law that apparently everyone could use a little bit of schooling on…the candidates, contributors, etc.

Comment by Rudy Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 10:44 am
===$16,000 is a lot in this primary ===

Maybe to Proft it is, but it’s still chicken feed.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 10:47 am
Sounds like these people need a steel cage match. The one who walks out wins.

If you have $1M in the bank, how hard would it be to hire an intern to build a database of companies with $50,000 in state contracts? I would think the Repub party would try to coordinate that for all their candidates just to keep this kind of PR to a minimum. Unfortunately, that requires the candidates cooperation, who seemed far more focused on getting every tiny punch in they can while declaring how they are the best choice. I would like to think doing simple behind the scene work like checking companies is a good indication of candidate’s future business operations.

Comment by zatoichi Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 10:51 am
$16,000 is just what has surfaced on the A-1 reports, which started January 1st. When his semi-annual report comes out on the 20th, there could be more.

But where do we draw the line? Do we wait until it gets to $50K or $250K and then say, “okay, now this is outta hand”? The law was put in place for a reason, and Matt Murphy touted the law. It’s very easy to run a check on the state board website to see who’s doing business with the state and how much business they’re doing.

Whether it’s McKenna, Quinn or whomever, I think it’s time to shed light on these issues. After all: sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Comment by Follow the money Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 10:56 am
That’s an impressive number for Kirk.

Alexi’s “team” will have to readjust & take this to the next level after the primary.

Comment by Bardo2 Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 11:00 am
Kirk is a fool if he spends another dime in this primary. He’s up 40 points in the polls to a bunch of no-namers. He’s going to need every last dime for what will likely be a very bloody general election.

Comment by Follow the money Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 11:03 am
So Jim Ryan did not want to attend a debate that being televised statewide. Why not? Too busy? Tsk, tsk. Possibly afraid of having to face difficulties associated with his record? More likely. And he wants is to believe he has the fortitude to lead?

Anybody think he will be able to withstand the onslaught that will surely come from Pat Quinn’s Chicago democrat machine? I don’t either. Ryan would lose the general election.

Comment by Joe from Joliet Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 11:04 am
>>We have the obligatory statement from a goo-goo…

Comment by lake county democrat Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 11:09 am
It is up to the company to tell the candidate it has state business.

“The candidate doesn’t recall receiving any notice from the company that it is doing state business. He fully supports the law, and it appears that someone dropped the ball by not informing him”, the candidate’s spokesperson stated.

Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 11:12 am
SOmething about the double arrows causes cut-offs, so we’ll try again:

Rich wrote: “We have the obligatory statement from a goo-goo…”

See, no matter how much you mock Blago, I think comments like this are more telling.

Comment by lake county democrat Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 11:13 am
I saw the first Kirk sign down my way I’d seen (signs are just now popping up down here) and while it was smaller than other signs, it certainly was flashy. A bit on the overkill side (IMHO) with it all but seeming tot be a flag fluttering with a breeze and the snowy backsetting right now set it off all that more.

My first thought was if it was the size of the one I had just passed for Brady for Gov, I’d have felt obligated to pull over and break into the National Anthem. And Brady’s was big enough to likely be readable two blocks away.

Comment by Cindy Lou Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 11:16 am
===I think comments like this are more telling. ===

Please. Look again at the post. This is all much ado about nothing. Blagojevich, however, was the real deal.

Otherwise, bite me.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 11:19 am
===It’s very easy to run a check on the state board website to see who’s doing business with the state and how much business they’re doing.===

Another person who didn’t read the article. The State Board of Elections doesn’t monitor that info.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 11:21 am
I’m with KeepSmiling, the State could sure use the money.

Comment by Dead Head Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 11:26 am
Rich,
Before you continue biting the heads off of people posting, you might want to look beyond the article to the actual language of the Act. 30 ILCS 500/50-37. First, companies that do over $50,000 in business with the state must register with the State Board of Elections. There is no affirmative duty for companies to notify the candidates. Obviously, by this provision, that statute contemplates that the candidate check out for themselves who is prohibited to give. I do grant you that contractors who give can face sanctions, but so can candidates. Secondly, the provision related to federal transportation dollars was invoked only when Blagojevich issued his Executive order to make this law applicable to the General Assembly as well as to statewide officeholders. That rule doesn’t appear to apply at all to contributions to statewide officeholders. I don’t know if the reporter who wrote this article was lazy or sloppy, or if the Board of Elections official who is quoted is woefully ignorant of the law, but it’s clear that the article is misleading at best.

Comment by phocion Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 11:29 am
Rich, if you ever bothered to check the SBOE website, you’d notice the tab at the end: “Business Registration”. From that tab, you can check businesses, “affiliated people” (executives, officers, directors, etc). There is also an “Existing Contracts” link that takes you directly to the Comptroller’s site with an easy search box in which you can enter an entity name and get a detailed list of their existing and prior contracts.

With all of the money being spent in these campaigns, I think they could spend a few hundred bucks to have an intern check these things out.

Comment by Follow the money Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 11:43 am
OK, I stand corrected, but finding anything on the ISBE site ain’t easy.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 11:45 am
Kirk sums up what elections are all about - collecting money and avoid the voters. No wonder people don’t show up to vote.

Comment by Anon Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 12:08 pm
When Andy Martin is invited to a debate, can you blame any legit candidate, let alone Mark Kirk, for not showing up?

Comment by Follow the money Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 12:18 pm
Follow the money - Yeah, I want to know that my senator can stand up to anyone - Martin included- and not run and hide.

Comment by Anon Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 12:23 pm
“Also, we’re talking a total of about $16,000 here. Not a lot of cash. McKenna’s campaign responds…”

“In response, the McKenna campaign is suggesting that some donors may have merely tripped up on a complicated new law.”

Sounds like the bank robber telling the judge “it was just a small town Bank, and Judge were sorry we went in a side door and didn’t see that sign that said Bank”

Comment by DnstateAnon Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 12:29 pm
Word, $12m is what JJ Jr. thought when he was supposedly in the running to be the seat-holder.

But when Kirk first announced he said $15-20m, I’m guessing he suspected then that Alexi G. would be the dem nominee.

The national GOP has said it will back this race with funding, for obvious reasons, but with the national GOP being in such disary I’m not confident that it can deliver for Kirk. from a financial standpoint he was right to try to court Palin. she can deliver a ton a cash, whereas Mike Steele et al. can’t.

Comment by Will County Woman Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 12:37 pm
Kirk sums up what elections are all about - collecting money and avoid the voters. No wonder people don’t show up to vote. - Anon - Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 12:08 pm

lol! didn’t mark kirk just get back from navy reserve duty in afghanistan? protecting your right to post stuff like you posted? and mark kirk has hardly been awol from tending to legislative matters in d.c. when congress has been in session.

but mant times i have wondered who exactly is running the il. treasurer’s office? i mean, what with the treasurer and his chief of staff both on campaign trails of their own.

:)

Comment by Will County Woman Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 12:58 pm
Well put, DnstateAnon.

Comment by phocion Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 12:58 pm
The NRCC spent an average of 6 million bucks on senate races last year. There are 11 potentially competitive races.

Ohio and North Dakota wont go anywhere. We’re down to 9 races. The only 2 open democrat competitve seats are this and delaware and they don’t have an opponent yet for castle, the republican moderate, who has run and won statewide there for nearly 30 years. Thats 8 races and outside of pennsylvania which has both philly and pittsburgh, none of the other states are big and expensive like this which could leave resources.

http://rothenbergpoliticalreport.blogspot.com/2010/01/ma-senate-moved-to-toss-up.html

Kirk hasn’t gotten any NRCC support since 2000 because as a veteran incumbent in an expensive area they had other priorities and frankly given how wealthy our district is, he shouldnt need it. That could change, but I think after blagoyevich explodes he won’t need the help.

Comment by shore Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 1:24 pm
Kirk’s race will be the priority.

And “anon”, Kirk doesn’t need to “stand up” to a pathetic idiot like Andy Martin by showing up at a debate. He’ll do it on February 2nd when he takes 70% of the vote and Martin takes 2%. He also stands up for Andy Martin’s rights by serving in the military. That debate was nothing more than 3 guys with no chance of winning trying to tee off on Kirk so they can scratch and claw their way to 5% in the polls. They made Alan Keyes look legit.

Comment by Follow the money Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 1:45 pm
Shore, I would fight in this race like my life depended on it, and I wouldn’t put too much stock in the Blago factor sealing the deal. By default Kirk is going to get a bounce from the Blago trial, but only if he’s up against someone other than David Hoffman (e.g., Cherlye or Alexi). Even if it is Alexi, the blago factor may only have a negible effect in Kirk’s favor.

I think Alexi’s fate is more tied to how this year turns out for Obama. Obama has turned off a lot of people who supported him, especially independents, who are fickle anyway, and moderate dems. Of course alexi has skeltons in his closet and other problems, which do not help him in trying to court indies and mod dems.

Comment by Will County Woman Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 2:02 pm
Gawd Rich, I was going to predict the “bite me” comeback, but figured you wouldn’t go to that well that often. The “tellingness” of the “goo-goo” comment is it modified the GROUP/SPEAKER, not the alleged triflingness of the amount. And the point about Blago, which I’ve made before, is your tone about similar “big stuff”: Judges allowed to accept money from lawyers and litigants who appear before them being the prime example. Your bias isn’t ideological, it’s system — if I had to speculate it’s mostly because you genuinely like a lot of these people you cover, and they may indeed be genuinely likeable, but their outcomes are detestable — think of the amount of blood that has been spilled to secure the basic principles of one man, one vote, with equal protection under the law. If you do, I don’t think you’d ever describe a reform spokesperson as a “goo-goo.”

Comment by lake county democrat Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 2:12 pm
LCD, you’re now equating civil rights leaders with people who want to cap contributions?

Ridiculous and beyond idiotic.

And I don’t “genuinely like” Andy McKenna. I barely know him. I actually do “genuinely like” Cindi Canary. Has nothing to do with their coverage.

So, stop speculating about my state of mind, John Kass, and rest easy for a while.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 2:17 pm
Kirk won’t get a bump from the Blago trial because Kirk will lose the primary. The majority of republican primary voters won’t vote for a candidate who is pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-gay marriage, pro-tax increases, pro-spending increases, pro-illegal alien, and anti-Iraq surge. I voted for Don Lowery.

Comment by Conservative Veteran Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 3:18 pm
===The majority of republican primary voters won’t vote for a candidate who is===

They have before.

Also, most probably don’t know about Kirk’s record. Just his name.

Wanna bet on the outcome? lol

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jan 15, 10 @ 3:32 pm