Which presidential candidates raised most money in suburbs?
If votes followed campaign cash, Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio would win in the suburbs in Illinois' primary election Tuesday.
But that's not always how it works.
A review of federal election contribution data shows Rubio and Park Ridge native Clinton raised the most money from a selection of suburbs.
Republican front-runner Donald Trump has raised the least money locally, with just $9,670 in donations in the area, according to the most recent report from mid-January.
Trump has paid for the majority of his campaign himself. Still, “it's interesting how little Trump has raised,” said Matt Streb, a political science professor at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, noting Trump also benefits from a lot of on-air coverage. “He's running off earned media.”
On the Democratic side, Clinton received the most money in donations locally, but Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders got money from more contributors.
It might be no surprise that a lot of money came from the Barrington area's 60010, a geographically large ZIP code that includes some of Illinois' highest-income towns.
People in that ZIP code sent $78,259 to Republicans, with almost half going to Rubio, and $36,638 to Democrats, with a large majority of it to Clinton.
In all, Rubio raised $163,036 in the areas examined, with the biggest amounts coming from the Barrington area, Elgin's 60120, Glen Ellyn's 60137 and St. Charles' 60174.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz isn't far behind Rubio with $103,394 raised, drawing significant donations from Arlington Heights' 60004, Bloomingdale's 60108, and Wheaton's 60187. He is set to appear at a Republican Party dinner today in Rolling Meadows.
Since the latest contribution reports, Cruz's stock has risen with victories in more states while Rubio has struggled.
Cruz's strong fundraising here could be evidence of the solid organization his campaign has boasted of since his Iowa caucuses win.
Streb said he'd expect to see more money raised in the suburbs by candidates with so-called establishment credentials, like Ohio Gov. John Kasich or Rubio.
“Not necessarily in the Chicago suburbs would Cruz do well,” Streb said. “Downstate is maybe where Cruz would do better.”
Among Democrats, Clinton received $340,974 in donations locally.
But Sanders raised $158,329 from 2,303 individual contributions. Clinton counted fewer than half that number of contributions, at 1,085.
In large areas of northwest Cook County and southern Lake County, including most of the Barrington area, Clinton outpaced Sanders in money raised but counted fewer contributors.
Sanders has sworn off funding from super-PACs and instead has relied on individual donors. Dan Johnson, a Sanders delegate from Wilmette, says that's an advantage for his candidate.
“The political strength of the Sanders campaign in Illinois is that we can continue to grow because our base of support is modest donations and most people have the ability to do it again if they are inspired to do so,” he said.
After Sanders' win in Michigan Tuesday, both Democrats have made visiting the Chicago area a priority. Clinton rallied in Vernon Hills Thursday and Sanders is scheduled to be in Summit today.