Politics
As the DNC Hits Chicago, Who Are Illinois’ Biggest Democratic Donors?
A file photo of Vice President Kamala Harris. (WTTW News)
Illinois Democrats are putting their money where their mouths are this election cycle — but a change at the top of the ticket and federal campaign finance reporting deadlines mean we won’t have the full picture of the cash influx until later this year.
After President Joe Biden ended his beleaguered reelection bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the top of the Democratic ticket, the newly christened Harris for President committee took in $200 million in donations in just one week, the campaign said.
In total, the Harris campaign said it took in some $310 million in July — dwarfing the committee’s reported haul of $284 million from Jan. 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. Many of the new contributors were small-dollar donors, the campaign said. But since the reporting deadline for July receipts is Aug. 20, it won’t be clear until those numbers become public just how generous Illinoisans were to the new Democratic standard-bearer.
Through June 30, the official campaign committee reported $7.1 million from some 36,000 donations out of Illinois, with an average contribution of about $200. More than 600 people gave $3,300 or more, the maximum donation to a candidate’s committee per election cycle under federal law.
But the cash flow from the Land of Lincoln to PACs that don’t face the stringent requirements of an official committee has been far more impressive. The Harris Victory Fund has gotten $15.2 million from local donors, and the Silicon Valley-based Future Forward PAC has taken in $10.4 million. Illinois has also stepped up to give to the Democratic National Committee itself, to the tune of $8.6 million this election cycle.
The state’s top Democratic donor, and one of the country’s largest contributors to Democratic causes, is businessman and philanthropist Fred Eychaner. The chairman of the Newsweb Corporation — which has held interests in newspapers, radio stations and TV stations — is also known for heading the Alphawood Foundation, which helped fund the Bloomingdale Trail and opened the Wrightwood 659 art gallery.
Most of the Illinois cash the Future Forward PAC has taken in came from Eychaner — $7 million worth at last count. He has also given $7 million and $8 million to the House and Senate Majority PACs, respectively, which work to fill congressional seats with Democrats. Eychaner contributed more than $900,000 to the Harris Victory Fund, a committee now supporting the vice president’s bid for the White House, and more than $330,000 to the Democratic National Committee itself.
All told, the most recent federal election records available show Eychaner made $27.4 million in contributions so far this election cycle to parties, PACs and candidates around the country, and is one of the nation’s top backers of the Harris campaign.
Billionaire real estate magnate Neil Bluhm and his daughter, Leslie, have made $3.5 million in contributions to Democratic committees around the U.S. as of Friday. Longtime donors, they have together given $1 million to the Future Forward PAC this cycle, as well as more than $970,000 to the Harris Victory Fund. Neil Bluhm has also given $300,000 to the House Majority PAC. All but one of their donations were recorded in the fall and winter of last year, many of them to state Democratic parties. They’ve also contributed to a number of Democratic U.S. senators seeking to hold onto their seats in the hotly contested chamber — including Ohio’s Sherrod Brown, Pennsylvania’s Bob Casey and Montana’s Jon Tester.
Major Democratic backer Michael Sacks and his wife, Cari, have also been active this cycle. Michael Sacks, CEO of multibillion-dollar asset management firm GCM Grosvenor, is a board member of the Obama Foundation and serves as chair of the Chicago DNC host committee. He has contributed $1 million to Future Forward, $626,000 to the Harris Action Fund and $500,000 each to the House and Senate Majority PACs, among other gifts. The couple has together donated nearly $800,000 to the DNC itself. They’ve also backed Brown, Casey and Tester — as well as Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin in her failed bid to unseat longtime U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Chicago).
Together, the Sacks’ total contributions to committees nationwide this cycle has totaled more than $4.6 million so far. The Chicago DNC committee Sacks chairs, which does not have to disclose its donors, recently announced it raised more than $94 million to support this year’s convention, a new record.
Another active Illinois donor this cycle has been businessman Glen Tullman, who’s made more than $6.7 million in contributions nationwide thus far. Tullman is an entrepreneur and investor in a variety of health care businesses. Records show he contributed more than $1.3 million to the Harris Victory Fund; $850,000 to the Senate Majority PAC; $600,000 to the Future Forward PAC; more than $570,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee; and more than $200,000 to the DNC itself. He has also given more than $360,000 to the Jeffries Victory Fund, a committee co-led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) as part of Democrats’ effort to retake control of that chamber. Tullman has donated widely to candidates, state parties and PACs across the U.S. — with records showing 271 individual contributions in all during 2023 and 2024.
Plenty of other well-known names in the Chicago civic, business and philanthropic scene have been a source of campaign cash for Democratic causes around the country this cycle as well.
So far, records show Ariel Investments co-CEO Mellody Hobson, who recently stepped down as Starbucks board chair to become lead independent director, has given a total of $2.1 million to a variety of campaigns — with the other Ariel co-CEO, John Rogers Jr., donating just over $500,000.
Chicago Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts — notable for championing Democratic and LGBTQ+ causes, in contrast to many of her conservative family members — has given more than $780,000 to a number of committees so far. Philanthropists Lester and Renee Crown, also supporters of WTTW and WFMT, have made more than $930,000 in contributions to a number of campaigns so far, records show.
Oh, and a couple other big donors whose names might sound familiar — Chicago residents J.B. and M.K. Pritzker. Federal records show the governor and first lady making contributions totaling just shy of $1.2 million so far. But that doesn’t take into account Pritzker’s contributions to the 501(c)(4) Think Big America, an effort the governor launched last year to support abortion rights nationwide after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
While J.B. Pritzker, the billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, has proudly touted his organization’s efforts to secure reproductive rights, he declined to share just how much money he’s funneled into Think Big America.
Note: This article was updated to correct information about Leslie Bluhm.
Contact Nick Blumberg: [email protected] | (773) 509-5434 | @ndblumberg
