GOP Fundraising Woes Could Leave Party "In the Wilderness"
The Illinois House Chamber in Springfield, where Republicans make up just 40 of 118 seats.
NOTE: This story was originally posted for subscribers only. To receive subscriber-only newsletters and content, click here.
After a combination of political cash buoyed by unions and a billionaire governor snowed Republicans over in 2022, numerous GOP operatives are concerned the same is likely to happen in 2024.
First quarter fundraising reports were due last week, and it showed Democratic legislative leaders far outpacing their Republican counterparts in cash on hand.
House Democrats filed with around $500,000 cash on hand, while two House Republican committees filed with a total of around $155,000. That figure was buoyed by $100,000 in March from House GOP leader Tony McCombie (R-Savana) and GOP campaign arm chair Rep. Tim Ozinga (R-Mokena), who each pitched in $50,000.
House Speaker Chris Welch continued the long running trend of fundraising dominance over former House GOP Leader Jim Durkin in 2022 and was sitting on more than $1 million cash at the beginning of April.
McCombie raised a respectable $100,000 in the first quarter, though around half came from one single GOP lawmaker. She has about one quarter of the cash on hand Welch has.
Senate Democrats had around $1.25 million cash on hand compared to just $61,000 for Senate Republicans. Senate President Don Harmon has around $7.75 million cash on hand, compared to around half-a-million for new Senate GOP Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove).
“How are you going to convince a high quality Republican candidate to run,” complained one frustrated GOP operative. “You can’t expect a dollar of help from Springfield and your opponent, if you’re in a competitive district, is going to have access to every dollar they need.”
Numerous GOP legislators face significant demographic challenges in 2024 and some of the most financially insecure members face tough, well funded competition next year.
Another operative said the GOP needs a better plan to reach out to business interests.
“Where is the [Illinois] Chamber? Where are the Manufacturers” asked the operative. If they don’t have the money in a PAC, then why aren’t they helping push back on the socialism happening down there?
The operative pointed to the recently failed campaign for Chicago Mayor run by moderate Paul Vallas, who raised millions from Chicago business interests in the run-up to the April mayoral runoff.
“We don’t give business interests any reason to believe in us,” the operative said. “If we don’t start now, we’re going to show that the GOP brand is dead in this state and we’ll be in the wilderness for another twenty years.”