Tom Kacich: Dems have big cash leads in area state legislative contests

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Democrats in the two contested state legislative races in East Central Illinois enjoy large fundraising advantages over their GOP opponents less than four months before Election Day.

State Sen. Paul Faraci, D-Champaign, has a more than 20-to-1 lead on 52nd District Republican challenger Jeff Brownfield, also of Champaign. Faraci faces his first election since being appointed to replace the late Sen. Scott Bennett, who died of a brain tumor on Dec. 9, 2022.

And Jarrett Clem, an electrician and Parkland College board member from rural St. Joseph, has a fundraising advantage of more than $100,000 in his 104th House District campaign against state Rep. Brandun Schweizer, R-Danville.

Schweizer was appointed to the House in December, replacing Mike Marron, who became the president and CEO of Vermilion Advantage.

The Faraci-Brownfield race, in a district that includes Champaign, Urbana and Danville and most of Champaign and Vermilion counties, is one of only two contested state Senate races in central or southern Illinois this year. The other is in the Peoria area. The dearth of head-to-head contests — there are only 13 in the entire state this fall — has allowed the majority Democrats in the Senate and their allies to focus their campaign spending.

Almost immediately after he was appointed to his Senate seat, Faraci’s nascent campaign received a $25,000 infusion from the Illinois Senate Democratic Fund. That has been followed by mostly labor-union contributions, boosting Faraci’s total to more than $225,914 in about 18 months. Faraci’s biggest campaign contributors, besides the Senate Democrats, have been the Laborers International Union Chicago council, $28,000; and the Illinois Laborers Legislative Committee, $25,000.

As of June 30, Faraci had $112,153 in his campaign fund. Brownfield had $5,270. Nearly all of Brownfield’s contributions came from the Senate Republican Victory Fund. If the race comes down to resources available from the party leadership, Faraci has a big advantage: the Senate Democrats now have $1.8 million on hand to $332,137 for the Senate Republicans.

In the 104th House District, which includes most of Vermilion County and much of Champaign County outside of Champaign-Urbana, Republican Schweizer has $14,783 on hand to $124,670 for challenger Clem. Schweizer’s donors include an assortment of House Republican lawmakers and Republicans from Vermilion and Champaign counties. His biggest single contributor is Danville Mayor Rickey Williams, who gave $2,500.

Clem is heavily supported by labor unions and their allies in the Legislature. He’s received $27,000 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Illinois PAC, and $10,000 each from the Illinois Laborers Legislative Committee and the United Association of Journeymen and Pipe Trades PAC and state Rep. Jay Hoffman of Belleville. Also among his donors is Champaign Mayor Deb Feinen.

The 104th District race is one of only a handful in central Illinois this year where there are both Republican and Democratic candidates. The others are in the Bloomington-Normal, Peoria, Springfield and Decatur areas. The 104th, where Democrats have been trying to pull off an upset for decades, is now considered only marginally Republican. Marron won it in 2022 with 54 percent of the vote, but in the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden took it by just under 4 percentage points.

If the Republican and Democratic caucus groups get involved in the race — and they likely will — the Democrats have a deeper stream of revenue. The Democrats for the Illinois House fund has just over a million dollars, while the House Republican Organization has $92,865. Money in other affiliated funds gives Democrats an even greater edge.

Looking ahead

Both Gov. J.B. Pritzker and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin are up for re-election in 2026, and it’s not too soon to ask whether they’ll actually run for another term. Durbin would be seeking a sixth term and would be 81 years old. Pritzker would be seeking a third term and might be more interested in focusing on a presidential bid in 2028.

Waiting in the wings is a handful of still-young Democrats who have been proving their fundraising chops.

At the top of the list is U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg, who has more than $17.2 million in his House campaign fund. A distant second is Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who has more than $2.1 million on hand.

Others considered possible contenders for governor or senator include Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul with about $1.1 million on hand, Illinois Treasurer Mike Frerichs (born and raised in Champaign County) with just over $1 million, state Comptroller Susana Mendoza with just under $700,000 and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton with just under $400,000.