Big backer keeps Sugrue in suburban state House race
He didn't even get into the race until April, but the Republican candidate challenging state Rep. Kathy Ryg outraised her during the first half of the year, state records show.
Green Oaks resident and first-time candidate Dan Sugrue had collected more than $36,000 by the end of June, according to the newest reports filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections. Most of that money came from one source: his father-in-law, Leo Newcombe, a retired newspaper executive from Winnetka who gave Sugrue's campaign $25,050 in May.
Thanks to that cash, Sugrue's fundraising efforts topped his Democratic foe's. Ryg, a Vernon Hills resident seeking her fourth term, collected less than $22,000 during the period, records show.
Sugrue called his first financial report "very encouraging," especially because he only started raising money in May.
"We're confident we can continue to attract a lot of attention," he said.
Ryg isn't concerned about Sugrue's fundraising efforts. She believes campaign financing needs to be restricted in Illinois.
Ryg is sure she'll have enough financial support to spread her message before Election Day.
"I'm not in a contest in terms of raising money," she said. "My approach to fundraising has always been to only ask for what I need."
Sugrue and Ryg will face off Nov. 4 to represent the 59th House District, which mostly is in eastern Lake County but also includes a small portion of Cook County.
Local GOP leaders nominated Sugrue, a lawyer. for the slot on the ballot after no Republicans ran for the post in February's primary.
The latest candidate financial disclosure reports cover money raised and spent between Jan. 1 and June 30.
The Friends of Dan Sugrue committee started the period without a penny but collected more than $36,409 in May and June, reports show.
All but one of the itemized donations in his report ranged from $500 to $2,500. The lone exception was a $25,000 gift from Newcombe, a retired executive at the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Daily News and Field Enterprises, which once owned both newspapers and other publishing interests.
Newcombe's daughter, Margot Sugrue, is the national sales director with Creators Syndicate, a Los Angeles company that contractually provides some opinion-page content for the Daily Herald.
Sugrue's campaign committee spent about $878 through June 30, leaving it with $35,531 at the end of the period.
Sugrue attributed his relatively strong fundraising to a broad public unhappiness with state politicians.
"I think people are ready for a change in state government," he said. "Wherever I go, people are sick and tired of the circus they see in Springfield."
Ryg ran unopposed when she last was re-elected in 2006. The Friends of Kathy Ryg campaign committee started the year with about $21,597 in the bank.
It raised about $22,590 during the first six months of 2008. Whereas nearly all of the itemized donations in Sugrue's disclosure report came from individuals, most of Ryg's came from corporations and political action committees.
Her supporters included: Comcast, which gave $1,000; Motorola, which gave $500; and the Illinois Federation of Teachers' political action group, which gave $1,000.
Ryg's campaign spent about $20,118 during the same six-month period, leaving it with an estimated $24,069 as of July 1.
Ryg has supported legislation that would reform campaign financing. One such proposal, which passed the Senate in 2007 but never made it out of the House, would've applied to judicial candidates.
"You have to get your message to people ... but I think (campaign spending) is out of control," she said.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/CommitteeDetail.aspx?id=21181">Friends of Dan Sugrue D-2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/CommitteeDetail.aspx?id=16704">Friends of Kathy Ryg D-2 </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>