Republicans Running in Open Seats Struggle to Raise Money
Grundy County Board Chairman Chris Balkema, seeking the 53rd Senate District seat, is one of many GOP candidates around the state struggling to raise money.
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With six weeks to go before the March primary, Republicans running in open seats for the General Assembly seem to have one major thing in common: they aren’t raising much money.
In numerous downstate open seat districts, Republicans have multi-candidate primaries that are being run on shoestring budgets.
In the 53rd District, which stretches from nearly Joliet to the Peoria area east to Indiana, Sen. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City) is not seeking a full term.
Grundy County Board Chairman Chris Balkema has raised around $50,000, which includes a $10,000 loan from himself. He had around $32,000 on hand at the end of the year. Since January 1, he’s reported about $8,000 in contributions and another $5,000 loan from himself.
His chief competition is Livingston County farmer and high school agriculture teacher Jesse Faber, who raised $17,000 in the fourth quarter of 2023. Since the first of the year, he loaned himself $40,000 and reported another $6,000 in contributions.
(Disclosure: Faber is a close friend of more than 20 years and his wife/campaign treasurer does bookkeeping for our business. I have no involvement in his campaign.)
Outside spending could be coming in the district, sources say. We’re told Koch-funded conservative group Americans for Prosperity is considering getting into the race on Balkema’s behalf. We’re also told the Illinois Education Association is considering going in for Faber, as IEA doesn’t get the opportunity to get a lot of Republican teachers in the legislature.
Former Livingston County Board member Mike Kirkton had under $1,000 in the bank at the end of 2023 and former Iroquois County Board member Susan Wynn Bence has not raised enough money to create a campaign account.
In the equally large and not-quite-as-rural 37th District, which stretches from East Peoria to the Mississippi River east to Rochelle and Dixon, Sen. Win Stoller (R-East Peoria) is not seeking re-election.
Henry County Board member Tim Yager raised about $38,000 in the second half of 2023. $20,000 of that came from the candidate. He had not reported any significant expenses. Congressman Darin LaHood recently endorsed Yager.
Former Dixon Mayor Li Arellano raised around $36,000 in the fourth quarter of 2023, which included a $25,000 loan from himself. He had around $26,000 cash on hand to close out the year.
Dixon City Councilman Chris Bishop has raised around $16,000, which included $6,000 from himself. He had around $10,500 on hand at the end of 2023.
So why is it so difficult for Republicans to raise money?
“Part of it is they just aren’t building a broad enough coalition to get people invested in their campaigns,” said one GOP operative who isn’t involved in the campaigns mentioned in this story. “Republican fundraising has struggled since [Bruce] Rauner stopped forking out money and now, most GOP voters are solely interested in the fate of Donald Trump, not some safe Senate seat in the boonies.”
It isn’t just in the Senate.
In the 76th House District being vacated by moderate Rep. Lance Yednock (D-Ottawa), which stretches from LaSalle-Peru and Ottawa north to DeKalb, both Republican candidates in one of the prime pickup opportunities for the GOP are not bringing in big money.
Liz Bishop, the choice of the GOP establishment, has raised about $30,000, but around $26,000 of that was from loans. At the beginning of the year, she had around $20,000 in the bank. Her far-right opponent, Crystal Loughran, has raised around $6,000, about $5,000 of which came from herself. She ended 2023 with $271 in the bank.
In the Quincy-to-Jacksonville 99th District being vacated by Rep. Randy Frese (R-Paloma), former Quincy Mayor Kyle Moore raised around $29,000 in the fourth quarter of 2023 and has around $23,000 on hand. He has raised $2,000 in large donations this year.
His opponent, Cass County Board member Eric Snellgrove, has not raised enough money to open a campaign committee
The exception to the rule appears to be the candidacy of Republican Regan Deering, who is seeking the Bloomington-to-Decatur 88th District seat being vacated by Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur).
Deering lost a congressional race in 2022 and is an heiress to the wealthy Archer Daniels Midland Andreas family, had a built in fundraising network when she started raising cash last summer.
As of December 31, she had raised around $142,000, which included about $15,000 from herself. Deering reported about $33,000 on hand at the end of the year. She has raised another $11,000 in large donations since the first of the year.
Her opponent, McLean County Board member Chuck Erickson, raised about $47,000 last year including about $5,000 in loans from himself. He had about $27,000 in the bank at the end of the year.
It also appears other potential big money labor interests will stay out of the races. We’re told Local 150, the powerful Operating Engineers union, will probably stay out of most of the races. The possible exception would be for Erickson, who the group endorsed Monday.