ILLINOIS (WMBD) — As campaign ads fill your TV screens, mailboxes, and social media feeds, millions of dollars are pouring in to make that happen.
Congressional candidates are spending in the millions, and Gubernatorial candidates in the tens of millions. While it may not be that high for our local races in central Illinois, hundreds of thousands of dollars are going into these campaigns.
In the race for Illinois’ 46th State Senate seat, incumbent State Sen. Dave Koehler (D-IL) had nearly $563,000 on hand after last quarter.
After this quarterly report, he brought in another $9,000.
His opponent, Desi Anderson (R), had nearly $58,000 on hand after the quarter, bringing in another $18,000 afterwards.
In total, Koehler has roughly 7.5 times more money than Anderson heading into the General Election.
In Illinois’ 92nd State Rep. race, Democratic incumbent Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-IL) had $320,000 on hand after last quarter. Her opponent, Ben Watt (R), had $3,800 and has received another $8,000 since.
It’s a pretty high-stakes, high-spending race in Illinois’ 91st State Rep. race between Scott Preston (R) and Sharon Chung (D).
Chung had over $164,000 on hand after last quarter and raised nearly another $367,000 since, totaling $531,000. Chung received nearly $300,000 from the Democrats for the Illinois House, and roughly $28,000 from the Democratic Party of Illinois in these specific reports.
Preston received much less from the Illinois Republican Party, just over $17,000 from the State party itself. He also received just over $46,000 from the House Republican Majority.
In our local Congressional races, candidates are spending millions of dollars.
Esther Joy King’s (R) total receipts are at the top of the list, according to the Federal Election Commission. Her campaign had $764,000 on hand after the latest report, her total receipts are nearly $4.8 million. She’s spent just over $4 million.
Her opponent, Eric Sorensen (D), also spending in the millions. He has $288,000 cash on hand, after raising $2.56 million and spending nearly $2.3 million.
In the race for the 16th Congressional District, Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) is drastically outspending his opponent. His campaign has $4.185 million cash on hand, has spent just over $2.6 million since Jan. 1, 2021, and his total receipts are just over $3.7 million in that same time period.
His opponent, Elizabeth Haderlein (D), has raised just over $28,000 while spending $13,000, leaving her with just $15,298 on hand.
The heavy spending isn’t exclusive to federal political races. The Illinois’ Governor race is where the most green can be seen.
Incumbent Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) had over $42 million on hand after last quarter. His campaign has reported taking in nearly $3 million after, totaling over $45 million now.
His opponent, Sen. Darren Bailey (R-IL) had nearly $767,000 on hand after last quarter, he then raised over $2.5 million since, totaling $3,339,855.
An interesting note about campaign gifts this election cycle, is when we take a look at the money the Illinois Republican and Democratic Parties have spent for each candidate.
The Illinois Democratic Party outspent the Republicans more than 12 times over in the race for Governor, supporting Pritzker with nearly $3 million, while the Illinois Republican Party has donated $236,000 to Darren Bailey.
The General Election is on Nov. 8.
