What will happen to McConchie’s campaign cash after he leaves office?
When Republican state Sen. Dan McConchie of Hawthorn Woods leaves office Sunday, he’ll have a campaign war chest that as of December contained nearly $98,000 — but he can’t take it with him.
Illinois law gives McConchie several options for that cash, including making charitable donations and contributing to political groups.
No decisions have to be made about the money until McConchie formally shuts down his campaign committee — and he isn’t required to do so, said Matt Dietrich, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Board of Elections.
“Many elected officials keep their committees open long after they leave office,” Dietrich said.
The practice is fine as long as a committee continues filing quarterly financial reports that tell elections officials — and the public — who’s giving it money and where it’s spending cash.
McConchie said he hasn’t thought much about what to do with the funds.
Ethics reform
Former local, county and state lawmakers and candidates in Illinois long were allowed to spend surplus campaign funds on personal expenses. They could even cut checks to themselves or family members.
But the state prohibited those practices starting in 1998 in an effort to crack down on politicians unethically profiting from their service.
State law doesn’t require politicians to shut down their campaign accounts when their political careers end, however.
Former Illinois politicians with open campaign accounts include ex-Gov. Jim Edgar, whose Citizens for Jim Edgar committee had nearly $116,000 in the bank as of Dec. 31, records show. Edgar hasn’t held public office since 1999.
Former state Rep. Chris Bos, a Lake Zurich Republican who served the 51st District, has kept his campaign committee going despite leaving office in 2023. It ended 2024 with $26,550 saved, records show.
Likewise, former state Rep. Nick Sauer, who preceded Bos as a representative for the 51st District, has an active campaign committee despite leaving office in 2018. The Lake Barrington Republican, who in 2023 pleaded guilty to attempted nonconsensual dissemination of a private sexual image in a case that drove him to resign, had nearly $85,000 in campaign funds saved as of Dec. 31, records show.
Campaign committees can even continue collecting and spending cash after a politician’s death.
Former state lawmaker, treasurer, comptroller and gubernatorial candidate Judy Baar Topinka died in 2014 but her campaign remains active. It reported spending about $80 in the last quarter of 2024 and finished the year with more than $437,000 saved, records show.
‘I have some time’
McConchie announced last week that he’ll resign to lead a new nonprofit group. Suburban Republican Party leaders will choose his successor.
As long as McConchie’s campaign committee is functioning — on paper, anyway — it can continue receiving and spending money. That would stop once it submits a financial report marked “final” to the elections board, Dietrich said.
McConchie then can donate the remaining funds to charity, transfer the cash to other political campaigns or committees or return money to contributors — as long as such refunds are equal or less than the original donations, Dietrich said.
In a telephone interview, McConchie said he might transfer some of the money to candidates in close races in 2026. If he goes that route, he’ll seek out recipients who share his values.
“Donors gave to me for a particular reason,” McConchie said.
Of course, the 2026 midterm election is more than a year away.
“I feel like I have some time to figure that out,” he said.