Oberweis leads race for campaign cash

Millionaire dairy magnate Jim Oberweis is winning the fundraising battle in the high-profile 14th Congressional District campaign, pulling in $1.6 million last quarter -- most of which is his own personal fortune lent to his GOP campaign, according to campaign finance reports filed this week.

The Sugar Grove Republican has raised $2 million to date for the Feb. 5 primary election.

His rival, state Sen. Chris Lauzen of Aurora, raised $515,170 between Oct. 1 and Jan. 16. That includes a $324,750 loan he took out to fund his campaign; the rest is largely from individual donors. To date, Lauzen has raised more than $1 million.

Democrat Bill Foster, a wealthy businessman and scientist, brought in $848,681 between Oct. 1 and Jan. 16. Of that, $600,000 was a loan from himself.

To date, the Geneva resident has raised $1.4 million for the race, of which $435,000 was from individual donors -- mostly fellow scientists.

Foster's year-to-date contributions from more than 1,100 donors outpace those of Oberweis and Lauzen, which his campaign said emphasizes Foster's grassroots support.

All the Federal Election Commission reports were filed electronically by Thursday's 10:59 p.m. deadline.

Among the other Democratic candidates, St. Charles attorney Jotham Stein raised $211,947 and Newark carpenter and Navy veteran John Laesch raised $137,972.

More than half of Stein's money came from individual donors while $70,923 is from his own bank account. Laesch's war chest is the picture of grass-roots support with individual contributions totaling $129,379.

Neither Democrat Joe Serra nor Republican Michael Dilger filed campaign finance reports.

The Republican and Democratic nominees will compete in a March 8 special election to serve the remainder of retired U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert's unexpired term. Nominees also will compete for a separate 2-year term in the Nov. 4 general election.

War chests grow

In the heated race to replace retired U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert in the 14th Congressional District, Republican Jim Oberweis has raised the most money. A comparison of how much each candidate raised in the fourth quarter of 2007:

• Jim Oberweis-R: $1.6 million

• Bill Foster-D: $848,681

• Chris Lauzen-R: $515,170

• Jotham Stein-D: $211,947

• John Laesch-D: $137,972

Source: Federal Election Commission reports, filed this week