Roskam campaign donations taper off

July through September saw a steady stream of contributions to U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam's re-election campaign.

The freshman Republican lawmaker from Wheaton received $150,331, according to newly released quarterly campaign finance disclosure reports. He started off with $544,735, spent $85,314 and ended up with $609,752.

It's not bad, except when you examine the same filing period in 2006. In three months, Roskam raised $592,533 and had a total of $1.5 million in hand.

Such heady days were the result of Roskam's heated race against Democrat Tammy Duckworth, now Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs director. Both parties poured millions into the campaigns of the candidates seeking to fill venerable U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde's 6th District seat.

This time around, Roselle businessman Stan Jagla is running as a Democrat against Roskam next year but hasn't acquired enough funds yet to file a Federal Election Commission report.

Another potential candidate is Des Plaines Democrat Jill Morgenthaler, a retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel who is Gov. Rod Blagojevich's deputy chief of staff for public safety. Morgenthaler said she's weighing her options.

Of the $150,000 he received, Roskam, who serves on several House financial services subcommittees, got more than $20,000 from financial institutions and political action committees.

U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, the Republican incumbent from the nearby 13th District, has $381,433 in her war chest.

The Hinsdale attorney started the quarter with $332,405, received $141,301 and spent $92,273.

Among her biggest donors were financial institutions and PACs, contributing about $19,000. Biggert credited those figures to the number of people living in her district who work in the industry.

Financial institutions are "the No. 1 employer in my district," she said.

Biggert's opponents include Democrat Scott Harper and the Green Party's Steve Alesch.

Harper of Lockport, who has postponed his doctoral studies at Oxford University to take on Biggert, has amassed $55,270, which includes a $50,000 personal loan. The money's being spent on campaign staff and setting up a headquarters, Harper said.

Meanwhile, Alesch, a Warrenville software engineer, said he's focusing on getting signatures and was under the FEC filing limit.

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