Republicans dominated the top 10 transfers of this week, with money flowing out of Governor Rauner's Candidate Committee, the House Republican Organization, and the Illinois Republican Party. Governor Rauner's Candidate Committee transferred $5 million to the Illinois Republican Party last Thursday, which then transferred $2.3 million to the House Republican Organization and over $650,000 to the Republican State Senate Campaign Committee. The House Republican Organization was active with transfers in the Chicago area, giving over $400,000 to 20th District House candidate Michael McAuliffe (R-Chicago), $85,000 to 62nd District House candidate Rod Drobinski (R-Wauconda) and $83,000 to 45th District House candidate Rep. Christine Winger (R-Wood Dale). 

Rep. McAuliffe, who won his past two elections with over 60% of the vote, ran tv ads for the second straight week. According to the FCC, he spent over $70,000 for 82 spots on ABC, FOX, and NBC that started airing  on Monday and will continue through  Sunday. Rod Drobinski is challenging incumbent Rep. Sam Yingling (D-Grayslake), after suffering a defeat by Yingling in 2014 by a margin of 4% of the vote.

 

Friends of Michele Smith, the committee for Chicago 43rd Alderman Michele Smith, received large sums this week from the 43rd Ward Democrats. The 43rd Ward Democrats paid off  $29,000 in loans to Smith just days before shutting down as a political party committee, and  provided Friends of Michele Smith with an additional $87,246 upon its termination. When committees are initially filed with the State Board of Elections, they decide whether they would like their remaining funds upon termination to go towards a different committee, a charity, or back to their donors.

 

This past week was monumental for the Citizens to Protect Transportation Funding ballot initiative committee. The committee surpassed the $1,000,000 fundraising mark this week after receiving  $227,000  in donations. These donations included the largest of this past week, $150,000 from the Downstate Infrastructure Awareness and Advancement Fund. As we have previously reported, this committee is advocating for a constitutional amendment that locks transportation revenue to transportation spending. The amendment is already guaranteed to appear on the November ballot for a statewide vote.