Tom Kacich: Budzinski has enormous fundraising lead for Congress

Feb. 5—Submit a Letter to the Editor here

Rep. Nikki Budzinski, the Springfield Democrat who represents Champaign-Urbana in Congress, has built a campaign treasury of $1.4 million as of Dec. 31. That's about twice the amount she had on hand on the same date two years ago during her first run for Congress.

It's also far beyond the amounts two Republican challengers in the 13th Congressional District have on hand. Joshua Loyd of Virden reported having $1,769 on hand after raising $11,248 last year, including $9,922 of his own money. Thomas Clatterbuck of Champaign reported $340 on hand Dec. 31 on receipts of $13,174 last year, all of which came from the candidate.

It's already a tough district for a Republican candidate, and Budzinski's fundraising advantage will make it more difficult. Budzinski won the district in 2022 by 13 percentage points.

Most of the money she raised last year, and in the final quarter of 2023, came from individuals. That's a significant difference from her predecessor in the 13th District, Rep. Rodney Davis, who relied on special-interest political action committees. Budzinski raised $1.24 million in individual contributions for the year, $772,321 from PACs and $4,650 from political committees.

A significant amount of her PAC contributions came from labor unions: $10,000 each from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Service Employees International Union and the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers. She also got $10,000 contributions from a number of Democratic-affiliated groups such as Defend the Vote, the Fair Shot PAC of Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, the California Leadership United for Voters of Rep. Pete Aguilar, and the Perimeter PAC of Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.

Budzinski's $1.4 million was in the middle of the pack among members of Congress from Illinois.

Rep. Robin Kelly of Matteson, whose district includes Danville, had $1.6 million in the bank, as did Reps. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, and Eric Sorenson, D-Moline. Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, had $1.5 million.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg had an astounding $15.3 million in his campaign treasury. Rep. Darren LaHood, R-Peoria, was second in the state with $4.8 million. Both are viewed as potential Senate candidates.

Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, who is being challenged by past GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey, had $1.3 million. Bailey had $117,383. Bost raised $1.8 million last year while Bailey brought in $326,037.

Rep. Mary Miller, R-Hindsboro, reported a modest $464,561 on hand. The Donald Trump acolyte has no Republican or Democratic opposition this year and is viewed as a lock in her district, the most conservative in Illinois. Her biggest donor last year was the House Freedom Fund, which gave her $41,331.

Faraci finances

State Sen. Paul Faraci, D-Champaign, reported $95,983 on hand on Dec. 31. His biggest contributor in the last quarter was $5,250 from the Chicagoland Operators Joint Labor-Management PAC. Faraci's likely GOP opponent, Jeff Brownfield, also of Champaign, has not filed a campaign-disclosure report.

Ammons non-endorsement

Missing from a recent list of endorsements by abortion-rights group Personal PAC was the name of state Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana.

Personal PAC's Meaghan Murphy explained: "Personal PAC's board of directors requires that all candidates, including incumbents, submit a 100 percent pro-choice questionnaire each cycle. We have not yet received Rep. Ammon's 2024 questionnaire, but given her incumbent status and 100 percent pro-choice voting record in the General Assembly, our board will likely move to endorse as soon as we receive her questionnaire."