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.
Alisa Kaplan
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
