Paul Vallas fields questions from the news media on Feb. 7, 2023, after the WTTW News mayoral forum. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson can now raise nearly unlimited amounts of cash for their mayoral campaigns, after Vallas loaned his own campaign $100,100 two days after advancing to the April 4 runoff.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot fields questions from the news media on Feb. 7, 2023, after the WTTW News mayoral forum. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

Unlimited contributions to political action commitees exploit what campaign finance experts told WTTW News is a loophole in laws governing the role of money in Chicago’s elections.

(WTTW News)

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is under federal indictment on corruption charges and no longer holds a reputation as the state’s most powerful politician. Despite all that, he is still a successful fundraiser.

ShawnTe Raines-Welch is running for a judge seat on the Cook County subcircuit court. (Campaign Photo)

Much of judicial candidate ShawnTe Raines-Welch’s campaign cash comes thanks to the largesse of Democratic elected officials who work under the political leadership of her husband, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch.

(Meagan Davis / Wikimedia Commons)

It’s been more than six months since a state commission was supposed to issue a report on proposed ethics reforms and nearly a year since the bipartisan commission was first formed.

Gov. Bruce Rauner and J.B. Pritzker appear on “Chicago Tonight” on Aug. 14, 2017 and March 14, 2018, respectively.

Campaigns are buying TV ads, web banners, and producing a wealth of videos for social media, and they’re using technology to target voting blocs with ever-increasing precision.