Congressional candidates rake in millions

WASHINGTON -- With the general election less than four months away, quarterly reports filed Tuesday show Illinois' congressional candidates raked in millions. But the signals are still mixed as to what the money might mean for Democrats and Republicans once all the votes are tallied.

Of the state's 19 House seats, five involve particularly competitive races, with two seats defended by Democrats, two by Republicans and the fifth an open seat now held by retiring seventh-term GOP Rep. Jerry Weller.

Illinois Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson reported about $917,000 in her campaign fund at mid year, the best fundraising position any Democrat has ever had in running for Weller's seat in at least the past decade. In the second quarter, she took in about $405,000 with about $167,000 in expenses.

Republican businessman Marty Ozinga's report was not immediately available, but last week he announced he raised $870,000, including $70,000 from his personal fortune.

For the race to succeed GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Democratic Rep. Bill Foster, a scientist who won a special election earlier this year, raised about $515,000 in the second quarter. After expenses he had about $433,000.

His Republican opponent for the second time since the special election, millionaire businessman Jim Oberweis, was expected to spend millions. Oberweis' report was not immediately available.

In Chicago's northwest suburbs, GOP Rep. Mark Kirk and Democratic challenger Dan Seals have already raised nearly $6 million since their first contest two years ago. Their spending tally by the November general election is expected to be one of the biggest for any congressional seat nationwide.

Kirk is at or near the top among Republican incumbents raising money for November and Seals is doing well measured up against other challengers across the country, according to reports for all congressional races filed in April.

Kirk, one of the more moderate House Republicans who Democrats often criticize as too conservative for his northwest suburban Chicago district, collected about $900,000 in the second quarter ended June 30. That's compared with about $645,000 for Seals, who is black and running in an overwhelmingly white district.

As of July 1, Kirk had $2.85 million while Seals had $1.76 million. For the election cycle that began in January 2007, Seals has raised nearly $2 million to the fourth-term incumbent's $3.87 million.

In the Republican-leaning Eighth District, Democratic Rep. Melissa Bean reported having $1.55 million in her campaign fund, about 15 times more than her opponent, Republican businessman Steve Greenberg.

Bean -- who upset 35-year GOP incumbent Phil Crane in 2004 -- raised about $423,000 in the second quarter. Greenberg collected about $232,000.

Taken with Bean's expenses incurred in the last three months, her campaign fund grew about $200,000 over her cash total reported in April.

Greenberg's July 1 total was about $105,000 after quarterly expenses of around $132,000. In April, his campaign reported having only about $5,000 in cash even and debts of about $153,000.

In another suburban Chicago contest, freshman Rep. Peter Roskam had $1.21 million in his political fund as of July 1, after raising about $408,000 in the second quarter and spending about $165,000. Democratic challenger Jill Morgenthaler, who served in Iraq as an Army colonel, had not filed her quarterly report as of late Tuesday, but a previous filing showed she had about $163,000 in April.

Roskam succeeded fellow conservative Republican Henry Hyde two years ago.