MILLER: Democrats continue to outraise Republicans in Illinois

Illinois Senate President Don Harmon continues piling up campaign money.

His latest quarterly report for his personal campaign committee showed Harmon had $13.4 million in the bank, up almost $2 million from the previous quarter. His caucus committee ended with $2.6 million in the bank, up about $800K from the previous quarter. And his two other committees held a combined $1 million.

As I write this on October 18, Harmon’s personal committee has reported raising $777K this month. No contributions have been reported from that committee this month. Harmon’s caucus committee has brought in a bit over $2 million, most of that from Gov. JB Pritzker, and about $1.4 million in expenditures have been reported.

That means the Senate leader is sitting on about $18 million for the home stretch. And since Harmon really has only one race (Sen. Patrick Joyce of Essex), which isn’t really that competitive, it looks like he’ll be banking most of that cash for 2026. For sure, he’ll spend some of it this fall, but he’ll head into the next cycle with a massive cash lead.

By comparison, Senate Republican Leader John Curran ended the third quarter with a bit over $1.9 million, up about $400K at the end of the previous quarter. He moved about $700K of what he raised to his caucus committee, the Senate Republican Victory Fund. That committee ended the quarter with about $163K.

Curran’s personal committee has reported raising $127K this month and his caucus committee has pulled in $335K, with $313K of that coming from Leader Curran. The caucus committee has made about $25K in contributions this month.

All that gives Leader Curran about $2.2 million to spend in the home stretch, meaning Harmon has almost a 9-1 cash advantage.

House Speaker Chris Welch spent about $6.9 million during the third quarter out of his personal campaign fund, raised $4.5 million and ended with $5 million in the bank. Democrats for the Illinois House raised about $4.8 million, spent $3.8 million and ended with $2.1 million in the bank. Welch’s township committee raised $100K from various law firms, spent $42K and ended with $251K in the bank.

As I write this, Welch’s personal committee has reported $402K in contributions and moved $4 million into his caucus account. Aside from that, Democrats for the Illinois House has reported raising $2.1 million, mainly from Gov. Pritzker, and has contributed $1.9 million.

That gives Speaker Welch about $7.8 million to spend in the closing weeks.

House Republican Leader Toni McCombie raised $950K during the quarter, spent $1.8 million and ended with $614K in the bank. The House Republican Organization raised $2.2 million (about $1.7 million from McCombie), spent $2.2 million and ended with just $91K in the bank.

So far this month, McCombie’s personal committee has reported raising $256K and has contributed $450K, all to HRO. Including that money, the House Republican Organization has reported raising $857K so far in October and has contributed $606K.  

That gives McCombie only $762K left to spend for the remaining three weeks. Welch has a 10-1 cash advantage.

Meanwhile, all four legislative leaders are currently not bound by state campaign contribution limitations on their personal committees because they have contributed or loaned those funds more than $100,000. As you would expect, the Democratic leaders are doing far better than the Republicans.

Senate President Harmon busted the caps in January of 2023 with a $168K contribution to his personal fund. Since then, his campaign account has reported raising $8.8 million in contributions above the standard $68,500 limit for political action committees.

House Speaker Welch nullified his contribution caps in late March of 2023 with a $100,001 loan to his fund, which was paid back to him a couple of weeks later. Welch has since reported raising about $6.9 million in contributions above the standard limit.

Senate Republican Leader Curran busted the caps on August 12 with a $100,001 loan, a debt he was still carrying on his latest report. Curran has raised just $342K in contributions above the standard limit.

House Republican Leader McCombie busted her caps in late March of this year with a $100,001 loan, which her campaign paid back to her a few days later. She has since reported raising $650,000 above the standard caps.

So, the Democratic leaders have used the state’s cap workaround law to raise a net total of $15.6 million, while the Republican leaders have raised a net of just $792K (once Curran’s loan is eventually paid back). That’s a 20-1 Democratic advantage.

This is all ridiculously lopsided.  

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.