Special interests have dropped more than $4 million on suburban congressional races
Special interest groups trying to influence November’s midterm election have given nearly $4.6 million this cycle to congressional candidates running in the North, West or Northwest suburbs.
Political action committees representing financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies and defense contractors have been especially generous, donating tens of thousands of dollars to Chicago-area candidates between April and June, Federal Election Commission records revealed.
Nearly all the special interest cash being spent in congressional races here has gone to incumbent Democrats. Their Republican rivals have received less than $22,000 from PACs so far, a disparity that didn’t surprise campaign expert Kent Redfield.
“Part of the advantage of being an incumbent is that you get money from groups that want relationships with people in power,” said Redfield, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois Springfield. “However, if you lose, these same people will quickly shift to being friendly with the person who replaced you.”
High finance
Banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions are digging deep for Chicago-area congressional candidates. They’ve backed U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez in the 3rd District, U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley in the 5th, U.S. Rep. Sean Casten in the 6th District, former U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean in the 8th, U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider in the 10th District and U.S. Rep. Bill Foster in the 11th, records show.
The donations Casten, of Downers Grove, and Foster, of Naperville, have received from these PACs dramatically exceed what the rest of the suburban delegation has reported. Both serve on the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees the securities, insurance, banking and housing industries.
Of the $130,500 Casten received from political action committees between April 1 and June 30, roughly $38,000 — about 29% — came from this industry, a Daily Herald analysis indicated. That included $2,500 from the American Bankers Association; $5,000 from Fair Isaac Corp., a company that assesses consumer credit worthiness through its FICO score; and $2,500 from Visa.
Foster’s total is even bigger. Of the $147,000 PACs gave his campaign during the quarter, about $105,000 — approximately 71% — came from the financial sector. That included $5,000 each from Bank of America and New York Life; $3,500 from JPMorgan Chase; and $2,500 from Liberty Mutual.
Big pharma
Prescription drugmakers and medical supply companies have shelled out big bucks this election cycle, too, especially to support Schneider’s bid for a sixth consecutive term.
Schneider serves on the Ways and Means Committee, which shapes legislation regarding taxes, tariffs, Social Security, Medicare, and other programs. He’s also a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Of the $190,989 Team Schneider received last quarter from special interests, $31,500 — or about 16% — was from companies or groups in these related fields.
Donations included $5,000 each from Lilly and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.; $2,500 each from AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck and Pfizer; and $2,000 from Baxter International.
Defense contractors
Companies that produce weapons and other equipment for the U.S. military have contributed to three Democratic incumbents running in the suburbs: Schneider, Casten and Quigley.
The firms have been particularly charitable to Quigley. A nine-term lawmaker from Chicago who’s also running for mayor in 2027, he sits on the Intelligence Committee, which oversees civilian and military intelligence agencies and programs, and the Appropriations Committee, which helps determine how government funds are spent.
Quigley received $16,000 from defense contractors between April 1 and June 30 — about 17% of all the PAC funding he received in the quarter.
Benefactors included Parsons Corp., which gave $3,500; Boeing, which gave $2,500; a group representing employees of Northrop Grumman, which also gave $2,500; and Siemens, which gave $1,000.
Ending the influence
One special interest group supporting candidates here actually wants to curb the amount of money PACs spend on the electoral process.
Named after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that eliminated restrictions on independent political expenditures from special interests, End Citizens United is backing three Chicago-area Democrats this year: Daniel Biss of Evanston, who’s running for an open seat in the 9th Congressional District; U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood of Naperville, who’s running for a fifth term in the 14th District; and Ramirez, who’s after a third term. The group has given $2,000 to Ramirez’s campaign, $1,500 to Biss’ and $5,000 to Underwood’s.
The organization endorses candidates based on their commitment to putting people over special interests, it said in a prepared statement.
“We believe corporate PAC money is at the root of a broken campaign finance system that gives special interests outsized influence in Washington,” according to the statement. “The candidates we support in Illinois will fight to root out the corruption in government that prioritizes billionaires over working people.”
Redfield doesn’t sound optimistic.
“Efforts to reduce the influence of money have largely been unsuccessful,” he said. “The combination of a lack of effort in Congress and constraints from the Supreme Court make progress very difficult.”
rlissau@dailyherald.com
Taking interest
Here’s how much the candidates running for Congress in the North, West and Northwest suburbs have received from special interest groups through June 30.
Delia Ramirez* (D-3rd District): $398,097
Angel Oakley (R-3rd): $0
Mike Quigley* (D-5th) $480,608
Tommy Hanson (R-5th): N/A
Sean Casten* (D-6th): $728,150
Niki Conforti (R-6th): $4,950
Melissa Bean (D-8th): $275,750
Jennifer Davis (R-8th): $14,000
Daniel Biss (D-9th): $205,684
John Elleson (R-9th): N/A
Brad Schneider* (D-10th): $1,281,739
Carl Lambrecht (R-10th): N/A
Bill Foster* (D-11th): $842,500
Jeff Walter (R-11th) $2,354
Lauren Underwood* (D-14th): $370,000
Jim Marter (R-14th): $100
*incumbent
Source: fec.gov