Proft Offered Bailey $20 Million in Alleged Secret Deal
Talk radio host Dan Proft at an Illinois State Board of Elections hearing Monday. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
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An Illinois State Board of Elections hearing Monday revealed right-wing radio host Dan Proft offered the campaign of then-GOP gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey $20 million in campaign contributions if Proft could take over Bailey’s fledgling 2022 campaign.
The secret meeting in the days following the 2022 primary came to light as state Democrats filed a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections alleging Proft illegally coordinated with Bailey during the fall campaign. Proft hosts a morning show at a niche conservative talk station in the Chicago suburbs and operates a political action committee, the “People Who Play By The Rules” PAC, funded by billionaire conservative megadonor Richard Uihlein.
More from Rick Pearson of the Chicago Tribune:
The day after Darren Bailey won the 2022 Republican governor primary, he and his campaign manager made an urgent, unscheduled helicopter trip from downstate to meet political operative and right-wing radio show host Dan Proft for a closed-door meeting to talk about “serious” campaign funding.
At a Chicago-area country club, Proft met both men at the front door and led them to a secluded room where he placed a white envelope on a table and said it contained $20 million from ultraconservative billionaire mega-donor Richard Uihlein.
Bailey was then given a choice: Either fire his staff and hire Proft as campaign manager and gain direct campaign access to Uihlein’s cash or Proft would hold onto it and use the Uihlein money to continue his political action committee’s backing of Bailey from the outside.
Either way, the message was clear: Uihlein’s money would follow Proft.
The Illinoize has confirmed the meeting took place in 2022.
Bailey allegedly declined the offer and kept his campaign staff in tow. We reported in the summer of 2022 on the dried up spigot from Uihlein to the Bailey campaign. As a result, Proft began an independent expenditure (IE) campaign aimed at hurting Governor JB Pritzker and boosting Bailey.
It all stems from a complaint from the Democratic Party of Illinois. More from Crain’s reporter Leigh Giangreco:
In 2023, Democratic Party of Illinois Executive Director Ben Hardin filed a complaint against Proft, Bailey and the People Who Play By the Rules PAC, alleging that the millions of dollars funneled into the PAC to oppose Pritzker should be considered illegal, in-kind contributions to Bailey’s campaign since the two parties coordinated. Hardin’s team pointed to Proft’s radio show, where Bailey was a frequent guest in the months leading up to the 2022 election and where the two exchanged ideas that later ended up in the PAC’s advertisements, according to the 2023 hearing officer report.
Lawyers [Monday] presented their case to hearing officer Jim Tenuto. The Illinois State Board of Elections is expected to reach a decision in June or July, he said. That could clarify what it means for a super PAC to coordinate with a candidate, a parameter detailed in federal election law but previously left undefined in Illinois.
More on the alleged $20 million offer from the Tribune:
On the night Bailey won the June 28 GOP primary for governor, defeating five opponents and getting 57.5% of the vote, Timpone called the nominee and said he should meet with Proft. Bailey also heard from Jeanne Ives of Wheaton, a far-right former state lawmaker and longtime Proft ally who has lost bids for governor and Congress but sits on the state Republican Central Committee.
Proft also called Bailey and urged him to meet.
“He called and said he wanted to meet and I told him I was too busy because I have a lot of press obligations we were going to take advantage of and he was very insistent, said he had serious funding available, so he became very insistent,” Bailey said of Proft in a previously taped deposition played at the hearing. “I assumed that money was involved.”
Proft said Uihlein’s offer “was motivated by the desire to support Bailey’s candidacy in a way that he believed most likely led to victory.”
“I’m bringing $20 million into the campaign and this is the situation. It’s not really a hire. It’s an offer,” Proft testified Monday. “Actually, I think I said my preference was to stay out, but in the interest of doing what’s best, I’m willing to come in.”
Proft graduated from law school but is not a licensed attorney.
The question that will likely be decided by the State Board of Elections this summer is whether outside groups can coordinate at all with state-level candidates. The Federal Election Commission bans coordination on the national level, but no such ban exists in state statute.
“Illinois has no rules and regulations regarding coordination. Do you see that more as a shield or a sword in this kind of case,” hearing officer Jim Tenuto asked lawyers, according to Crain’s.
Proft’s PAC has already been fined in excess of $25,000 for failing to file reports with the State Board of Elections. The Board has also previously cited Proft for illegally coordinating with campaigns using his faux-newspapers that are distributed around the state.