Following the money in the 14th Congressional District
Campaign donation reports in the 14th Congressional District race show a flood of money from around the country in one of the most watched political battles in the nation.
Incumbent Democrat Bill Foster has raised nearly $3 million in total contributions and Republican Challenger Randy Hultgren has netted $1.2 million.
Third party challengers Dan Kairis and Doug Marks have not raised enough money to report their contributions. Indeed, both Kairis and Marks have decried the influence of special interests on the major parties as reasons they aren't seeking big donations.
On that note, the bulk of the money flowing to both Foster and Hultgren are from individual contributors. About 79 percent of Hultgren's contributions came from individuals, compared to about 19 percent from political action committees. Foster received about 65 percent of his donations from individuals, compared to about 30 percent from PACs, according to Federal Election Commission reports.
The special interests represented in those PAC donations is representative of historical trends. The financial sector is by far the largest industry represented in donations to Foster and Hultgren and candidates across the nation, according to a breakdown from OpenSecrets.org. That sector may be even more interested in the 14th Congressional District than many Congressional seats because Foster sits on the Financial Services Committee. Reflecting that, the financial sector poured more than $400,000 into Foster's campaign coffers, compared to about $120,000 for Hultgren.
That money is not solely based in Illinois for either Foster or Hultgren. Looking at just the most recent quarterly report, Foster received donations from 36 different states. Hultgren received donations from 29 states. Both candidates received the bulk total of their most recent donations from Illinois. But donors from Washington, D.C., California and Massachusets also contributed heavily to Foster. Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Minnesota were the other big donor states for Hultgren.
Hultgren's campaign raised an eyebrow about the greater number of out-of-state contributions for Foster, but focused comments about money in the race to the main economic theme they've trumpeted throughout the race.
“Randy Hultgren is deeply grateful for the broad support he is receiving from the residents of the 14th Congressional district who share his concerns about the reckless spending, irresponsible legislation and total disregard of common sense Illinois values, reflected in Bill Foster and Nancy Pelosi's Washington, D.C., agenda,” Hultgren Spokesman Gill Stevens said.
Foster Spokeswoman Shannon O'Brien said she sees no problem with the out-of-state money in the race because more than two-thirds of Foster's donations are from Illinois sources. O'Brien also reiterated the illegal campaign contributions Hultgren made to himself from his state senate campaign coffers that had to be returned. She also pointed to a pair of recent donations received by Hultgren from tobacco company-related PACs, totaling $3,500, that O'Brien said demonstrates the ideological differences between Foster and Hultgren.
“Mr. Foster has never, and will never, accept money from an industry that is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans each year,” O'Brien said.
Stevens responded that Hultgren's support for Illinois' state indoor smoking ban shows Hultgren is not in the pockets of “Big Tobacco.”