Tom Kacich: Faraci campaign made great strides in fundraising

Oct. 30—State Sen. Paul Faraci, D-Champaign, made good use of the Legislature's down time this summer, raising nearly $80,000 for his campaign fund during the period between July 1 and Sept. 30. He went from zero on Jan. 7, the day he was appointed to the state Senate, to nearly $85,000 in less than nine months.

Faraci, who was named senator for the 52nd District following the death 11 months ago of his good friend, state Sen. Scott Bennett, reported $84,619 in his campaign fund on Sept. 30. The 52nd District includes most of Champaign and Vermilion counties.

Faraci has since added at least $2,200. That puts him in strong financial shape to ward off any challenge in the March 19 Democratic primary, and is a solid foundation for the general election about a year from now.

Faraci's campaign raised $78,399 during the period and spent $52,153, much of it going toward printing, consulting, fundraising and other campaign-related expenses.

His largest contributors were labor unions and his Democratic Senate colleagues. Faraci got $25,000 from the Chicago Laborers' Union political action committee, $10,000 from the Illinois Laborers Legislative Committee, $2,000 from the Fraternal Order of Police Chicago Lodge 7 and lesser amounts from a number of other unions.

He also got contributions of between $5,000 and $1,000 from the campaign funds of state Sens. Cristina Castro of Elgin, Linda Holmes of Aurora, Bill Cunningham of Chicago, Laura Fine of Glenview and Julie Morrison of Deerfield.

Faraci's cash on hand is far less than the $400,000-plus that Sen. Bennett had in his campaign fund at the time of his death, but it compares favorably with what other area state senators are reporting, including $72,364 for Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, $85,024 for Doris Turner, D-Springfield, and $40,980 for Sally Turner, R-Lincoln.

The 52nd, which includes Champaign, Urbana and Danville, is considered a Democratic district. Bennett ran unopposed in 2022 after winning with 63.4 percent in 2020 and 61 percent in 2016.

State Sen. Tom Bennett

State Sen. Tom Bennett — Scott Bennett's uncle — announced this summer that he would not seek another term.

And the Gibson City Republican almost immediately began repaying some of the principle on $136,255 he had loaned his campaign fund over the last eight years.

Tom Bennett's latest campaign disclosure report shows about $17,000 in payments to himself on those personal loans.

Former U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis

The former congressman whose district included Champaign-Urbana is now working for a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm and is a fellow at Harvard's Kennedy Institute of Politics. And he's slowly shutting down his campaign fund.

After payments this summer of bank fees, insurance premiums and consultants, Davis' campaign fund is down to just $344.26. The fund also has an outstanding debt of $6,500 owed a Seattle-based texting platform.

Davis' campaign fund is closing down about nine months after the end of his predecessor's last campaign fund. The late U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson of Urbana, who died in May 2022 and had served in Congress until 2013, had operated the Middle Ground Political Action Committee. Its original goal was to support politicians who worked toward bipartisan solutions to issues. After Johnson's death, however, the money went solely to Republicans, including hard-right officials such as state Reps. Dan Caulkins of Decatur and Brad Halbrook of Shelbyville.

Budzinski and Miller

U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, now represents much of the area that Johnson and Davis did. She recently reported having more than

$1 million in her campaign fund with no 13th District Democratic challenger on the horizon and a pair of underfunded Republicans looming.

She has raised $1.4 million so far in this election cycle, including $851,406 from individuals and $561,820 from political action committees.

In the neighboring 15th District, hard-right Congresswoman Mary Miller of Oakland — who originally favored Jim Jordan for speaker of the House — so far has no opposition, either Republican or Democratic.

Miller reported $451,090 on hand. She has raised $586,809 in this election cycle, including $521,309 from individuals and $65,500 from PACs.