Will donations from the JB Pritzker’s campaign help local Democrats?

In the waning days of the general election, DuPage County Democrats hope to further solidify their control of county government by securing some key seats.

Defeating Republican Jim Zay, the longest-serving member of the DuPage County Board, and electing DuPage’s first Democratic sheriff since the Civil War would be historic wins for the Democratic Party, which controlled few elected positions in the county a just decade ago.

But winning elections requires money. And campaign records show that Democratic sheriff candidate Peter Coolidge and Zay’s opponent, Jesse Gutierrez, haven’t been overly successful at fundraising.

In both cases, Zay and Republican sheriff candidate Sean Noonan have campaign funds several times larger than their Democratic opponents.

Enter Gov. JB Pritzker.

In recent weeks, Democratic candidates and party organizations statewide have seen an influx of cash from the governor’s campaign.

The Democratic Party of DuPage County received $200,000 earlier this month. Kane County Democrats got $100,000. Lake County Democrats received $30,000.

That money was set aside for key state and county races.

DuPage County Republican Chair Kevin Coyne said it’s hard for GOP candidates in Illinois to compete with Pritzker’s money.

“It’s incredibly ironic that the party that screams the loudest about no kings seems to have no issues with a billionaire buying elections up and down the ballot throughout the state,” Coyne said.

But Democratic Party leaders insist that President Donald Trump and his unpopular policies — not Pritzker’s money — will influence the outcome of various races.

“I don’t think the fact that Democrats might win every single race on the ballot in DuPage is because of JB Pritzker,” said Reid McCollum, chair of the Democratic Party of DuPage County.

Funding disparity

According to recent campaign filings, Gutierrez reported having $486 available in campaign funds at the end of September. He has self-funded most of his campaign, lending himself just over $700 to cover some of his expenses.

Zay, on the other hand, reported a balance of $68,555 at the end of September and recently received more than $60,000 in contributions, including in-kind contributions from the Illinois GOP.

Noonan, a former DuPage County Board member, reported a campaign fund balance of $73,904 at the end of September and received more than $56,000 in contributions in October, including an in-kind contribution from the Illinois Republican Party.

Coolidge, meanwhile, reported a campaign balance of $9,270 at the end of September.

Pritzker’s donation to the DuPage Democrats will help close the funding gap between the two parties.

“All that’s happening is the governor is helping Democratic candidates get their message out to voters who deserve to hear the message of all the candidates,” McCollum said.

Mark Guethle, chair of the Kane County Democrats, said Republicans have benefited in the past from wealthy party backers like Ken Griffin, Bruce Rauner and Richard Uline.

“Republicans nationwide have more money than God,” Guethle said. “Pritzker has been generous to the Democratic Party in the entire state. He understands that all local elections are important.”

Republicans, however, say that the amount of money Pritzker is pouring into local races is unprecedented.

“We were never throwing $20,000, $30,000 or $40,000 into county board races,” said Michelle Bettag, chair of the Kane County Republicans.

In the past, Bettag said, many candidates spent less than $10,000.

Local GOP leaders theorize that Pritzker is shoring up the state’s Democratic Party for 2028.

“It’s no secret that he’d like to run for president,” Coyne said. “I’m sure he’d like to run on a very progressive agenda, and you can’t get agendas like that passed unless you have control of your party and everyone in it.”

‘Your own billionaire’

Melissa Mouritsen, a political science professor at the College of DuPage, said Pritzker’s recent donations simply show the influence of money in politics.

“If you want to be successful, you have to have your own billionaire,” she said. “You need money in order to win.”

Mouritsen added that the donations to county party organizations, rather than to individual candidates, signals a more active central committee party structure for the Democrats and the potential for a continued power shift in counties like DuPage.

“Democrats have been so successful that now they’re just going for broke and going for every single office,” she said.

Still, if Pritzker does seek and win the presidency in 2028, she wonders what will happen to the Democrats’ campaign funding.

Mouritsen questioned whether Pritzker would write checks the same way if he wins the presidency.

Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for the Daily Herald.