Tom Kacich: Miller, Budzinski taking different routes to re-election

Jul. 24—The quarterly campaign disclosure reports filed by the two women who represent Champaign County in Congress make for an interesting study in contrasts.

Rep. Mary Miller, the second-term Republican from Oakland in Coles County, reported nearly $150,000 in campaign contributions for the quarter that ended June 30. Her campaign spent about $155,000 during the period and reported $390,161 on hand on June 30.

By contrast, Rep. Nikki Budzinski, a freshman Democrat from Springfield whose district includes Champaign-Urbana, reported nearly $450,000 in campaign contributions with expenditures of about $158,000. Budzinski's campaign said it had $720,125 on hand on June 30.

Although they represent adjacent congressional districts in downstate Illinois, their areas are wildly dissimilar. Miller's 15th Congressional District, largely rural, conservative and including 35 of Illinois' 102 counties, is overwhelmingly Republican. She won re-election last year with 71 percent of the vote after defeating veteran Rep. Rodney Davis in the Republican primary. The right-wing excitant ran to the right of Davis, got the endorsement of Donald Trump and took the primary with 57 percent of the vote. She is the only Illinoisan in the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Budzinski's 13th District, drawn by Democrats to maximize Democratic votes in a narrow strip between Champaign-Urbana and East St. Louis, is considered marginally Democratic. Nearly 80 percent of its vote comes from urban areas. Budzinski won it last year with nearly 57 percent of the vote, but she can't be considered anything close to a shoo-in in what could be another volatile election year. Thus the aggressive fundraising.

Budzinski, just seven months into her Congressional career, ranks 10th in cash on hand among Illinois' 17 members of Congress. Miller, with a much safer seat, ranks 13th. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Schaumburg, has an almost unfathomable $13.5 million in his campaign fund, far more than either of Illinois' two U.S. senators and $9 million more than the next most flush member of Illinois' congressional delegation, Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria.

The vast majority of Miller's campaign contributions in the most recent quarter — amounting to $132,568 — were from individuals. Donors included Fred Helmuth of Arcola, $5,000; Mary Henson of Champaign, $1,000; and conservative businessman Richard Uihlein of Lake Forest, $800. Miller got an unusually modest $17,000 from political action committees, including $1,000 from the National Rifle Association, $1,000 from state Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville; and about $10,000 from PACs affiliated with the sugar industry.

For now, no one, Republican or Democrat, is challenging Miller in 2024.

Like Miller, Budzinski serves on the House Agriculture Committee, but her political action committee donors — which provided about $186,000 in the last quarter — included dozens of ag interests. She got $5,000 from the American Crystal Sugar Co.; $3,000 from the American Association of Crop Insurers; and $2,500 each from Bunge North America, Caterpillar, the Corn Refiners Association, the National Confectioners Association, the National Pork Producers Council and ADM. The latter contribution is especially ironic given that Budzinski last year defeated Regan Deering, an heir of former ADM chief Dwayne Andreas, in the November election.

Budzinski also received significant PAC funding from labor unions and women's groups. She got $10,000 each from the carpenters union and the International Association of Firefighters; and $5,000 each from the Amalgamated Transit Union, AFSCME, the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, the National Association of Letter Carriers, the Service Employees International Union, and Union Plumbers and Pipefitters. She also got $3,000 from the National Air Traffic Controllers Assocaition PAC; $2,500 from the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees; $2,000 from the United Mine Workers and $1,000 from the AFL-CIO. Budzinski received $2,500 from NARAL Pro-Choice America, $5,000 from Hillary Clinton's Onward Together Committee and $2,500 from Tri-State Maxed-Out Women, a group supporting pro-choice female Democrats.

Among individual donors, Budzinski received $3,300 from Champaign developer Peter Fox and Alton personal-injury lawyer John Simmons; $2,000 from Dr. Khalid Waheed of Savoy; and $1,000 each from Dr. David Main, Champaign school board member Amy Armstrong, Steven McQueen and Pat Devaney, all of Champaign, Susan Eades of Urbana and Parkland College board member Jarrett Clem of St. Joseph.

Other Budzinski contributors included former Democratic congressional candidate David Palmer of Champaign, $500; Champaign Mayor Deb Feinen, $300; and Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman, Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz and Urbana Alderman James Quisenberry, $250 each.

One oddity in the latest report by the Budzinski campaign is a $2,900 campaign contribution refund — or "disgorgement" in Federal Election Commission speak — to alleged fraudster Samuel Bankman-Fried. The 31-year-old investor is accused by federal authorities of stealing billions of dollars in FTX cryptocurrency exchange customer funds to fill losses at his Alameda Research hedge fund.

Bankman-Fried spent an estimated $46.5 million in the 2022 federal election cycle, with all but about $300,000 going to Democratic candidates or Democratic interest groups.

As for next year's election, Budzinski's only announced opponent, Republican Joshua Loyd, has just $1,586 on hand.

Faraci funds

State Sen. Paul Faraci, the Champaign Democrat appointed in January to succeed his late friend, Scott Bennett, more than doubled his fundraising totals in the second quarter.

Faraci has promised to run for the 52nd District seat, which includes most of the population of Champaign and Vermilion counties, in November 2024. So far, no other Democrats or Republicans have indicated an interest in the seat.

Faraci's campaign fund increased from $25,100 on March 30 to $58,373 on June 30. Major donors included the Illinois Pipe Trades PAC and Illinois Laborers Legislative Committee, $5,000 each; Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 149 in Savoy and the Carpentry Advancement PAC in Chicago, $2,500 each; the Illinois Trial Lawyers and the Chicagoland Operators Joint Labor-Management PAC, $2,000 each. Individual contributions included $1,000 from SCA Holdings LLC, whose manager is Spencer Atkins; and $1,000 from Accel Entertainment Gaming LLC, a video-gaming company based in Bolingbrook.

Meanwhile, the campaign fund of the late Sen. Bennett reported making a $25,000 donation to the Crisis Nursery in Urbana. The campaign fund has almost $387,000 remaining.