Lisa Madigan Holds Fundraising Advantage Over Quinn
By Chuck Sudo in News on Apr 8, 2013 8:40PM
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan raked in big money to her campaign funds in the first quarter of 2013 for whatever office she plans to run for next year. (Coughgovernorcough!!)
The Tribune, citing records from the Illinois Board of Elections, reports Madigan raised $770,365 in contributions of $1,000 or more from Jan. 1 through March 31 and deposited $736,015 at the end of March. She started the year with a war chest of $3.6 million and released a statement Friday that said she’s “taking steps to ensure that I have the financial and political resources necessary for another campaign." Madigan has been mum about her political future but speculation continues to center on her challenging Pat Quinn for the 2014 Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
Quinn has been busy raising cash for his re-election campaign, with $551,034 in donations of $1,000 or more between Jan. 1 and March 31 and over $1 million in his campaign fund. Unions have been opening the checkbooks to both Madigan and Quinn. The Service Employees International Union contributed $25,000 to Quinn and the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association added $20,000. Madigan, who’s been meeting with high-powered donors in recent months, received $50,000 from the Washington, D.C.-based Laborers' Political League Education Fund, $52,600 donations from the Engineers Political Education Committee and the UA Political Action Fund, a PAC based in Maryland. In total, Madigan received 198 donations of $1,000 or more.
While Madigan’s campaign numbers are impressive, Quinn’s are just as notable as he only kicked off his fundraising agenda last month and his numbers are an example of the power of incumbency.
In other news related to the race for the Governor’s mansion, venture capitalist Bruce Rauner announced he was selling his stake in the media group that owns the Chicago Sun-Times. Rauner sold his 10 percent stake in Wrapports LLC to chairman Michael Ferro for $5 million. Rauner and Ferro both said the sale was done to eliminate any conflicts of interest that may arise should Rauner take his exploratory committee on a possible gubernatorial run to the next level.