Dunkin Dunking Cash
via POLITICO Illinois Playbook
“The fine folks at The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform crunched the numbers Thursday and found that more than $1.4 million and counting is being spent in the 5th State House District race where incumbent Ken Dunkin (D) is attempting to stave off challenger Juliana Stratton, also a Democrat. This intra-party squabbling is due to Dunkin’s overtures to the other side of the aisle. He’s being criticized for missing a key vote that could have overridden a Rauner veto of a bill favorable to labor, among other perceived defections. (He also has a flair for the theatrical, showing up at Madigan’s office with camping gear and vowing to not leave until there’s a budget.) Backing Stratton are party establishment figures Karen Lewis, Toni Preckwinkle, Jesse White, as well as big labor organizations.
While she has the party love, Dunkin has the money. Data shows funding supporting his campaign total $1.1 million against Stratton’s $389,287. On his side is IllinoisGO, a Super PAC that spent more than $300,000. Another Super PAC, the Illinois Opportunity Project, donated $500,000, which the ICPR says may be a historic high for a General Assembly race. Both groups are aligned with Republicans.
One more thing — Along with the stark party divide in this state, the money divide may be wider. There are many ways to illustrate this, but the best could be the ICPR’s list of top committees operating in the state. As of Feb. 11, Citizens for Rauner is riding high at the top with $19.5 million, more than half of than IllinoisGO, coming in at number two. Dead last in this list of ten is Friends of Michael J. Madigan with $2.3 million.”
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