Login>
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • sign up today!

Kennedy leads Biss in A-1 contributions since Oct.1; Pritzker still ahead of the pack

Illinois gubernatorial candidate Chris Kennedy has far outpaced most of his opponents in the Democratic primary race in so-called A-1 campaign contributions since October 1.

Kennedy netted just over $100,000 from about 25 businesses and individuals. Biss reported a little under $14,000 from 10 individuals.

Billionaire JB Pritzker outraised both, albeit with his own money. Pritzker gave his campaign committee $7 million on October 13.  Pritzker’s campaign has been entirely self-funded.

Illinois State Board of Elections rules require candidates to report contributions of $1,000 or more within 5 days after receipt. The forms committees use to report those contributions are known as A-1s. Because the reports do not include smaller contributions, they only represent a portion of candidate’s fundraising activities. Quarterly reports filed in January will provide a more complete picture of each campaign’s financial situation.

Kennedy’s donors since the beginning of the fourth quarter included individuals and businesses in Chicago and the suburbs as well as a few from Wisconsin, Florida and Massachusetts. Peter O’Brien, a Chicago businessman that has given previously to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, gave Kennedy over $30,000 through several limited partnerships.

Biss’ contributors are mostly concentrated in Chicago and North Shore suburbs, but he has also received funds from individuals in San Francisco, Portland, Oregon and New York City.

In Pritzker’s Q3 report, which covered his committee’s financial activity through September 30, the campaign reported roughly $175,000 in available funds. Biss’ committee had $2.6 million at the end of September and Kennedy had about $1.3 million.

The race’s lesser known candidates—Chicago activist Tio Hardiman, progressive newcomer and 29-year-old Alex Paterakis, Burr Ridge doctor Robert Marshall and downstate school superintendent Bob Daiber—are all well behind the top-tier threesome. 

Marshall gave his committee $20,000 in mid-October and reported about $750 in available funds at the end of September. Hardiman, Daiber and Paterakis have reported no contributions since the end of September and each reported less than $15,000 in available funds at the end of the third quarter.

Republican incumbent Bruce Rauner reported $68,600 in A-1 contributions since October 1 from Illinois contributors. Rauner also reported a $5,600 contribution from an Arkansas businessman, Ronald Cameron, who owns Mountaire Corporation, a food processing company. The governor’s campaign committee reported $65 million in available funds at the end of September.