U.S. Rep. Rod Blagojevich, a Chicago Democrat who is a potential challenger to Gov. George Ryan, reported Wednesday that he has about $2 million in two political war chests that could be tapped for a gubernatorial bid.
With the governor’s contest less than two years away, Blagojevich has gone on a whirlwind fundraising campaign, reports filed Wednesday show.
“It’s no surprise. He has been raising lots of money,” said Dennis Culloton, a Ryan spokesman.
Despite Ryan’s foundering in the polls and a barrage of unflattering publicity, the governor hasn’t slowed his fundraising efforts. Though he hasn’t decided whether to seek a second term, Ryan is sitting on a $2.2 million campaign treasury. Over the last six months of 2000, he raised $900,000 from donors, records show.
“There is a whole wide group of people out there who think he has done an outstanding job as governor,” Culloton said.
Ryan also reported spending about $176,000 on legal bills between July 1 and Dec. 31 stemming from lawsuits tied to the licenses-for-bribes scandal that is under investigation by federal prosecutors.
The lawsuits, filed by the Better Government Association, accuse Ryan of improperly using state workers to sell political fundraising tickets when he was Illinois secretary of state. The BGA’s lawsuit followed revelations in the federal Operation Safe Road criminal investigation that secretary of state workers bought fundraising tickets for Ryan’s political fund using bribe money paid by unqualified truck drivers.
Ryan has now used a total of $342,000 in campaign funds to defend himself in the two lawsuits, records show.
Matt Devine, a spokesman for Blagojevich, said that the congressman hasn’t made any final decision about entering the 2002 governor’s contest. “It is no secret that he has been traveling around the state. He has been talking to people all around the state,” said Devine.
Blagojevich’s fundraising efforts already surpass the amounts raised by most of the Democrats who vied for the right to face off against Ryan in their party’s 1998 gubernatorial primary.
The winner of that primary was former U.S. Rep. Glenn Poshard, who has already ruled out another try. Other potential Democratic contenders for governor in the next election include former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris, Chicago Public Schools Chief Executive Officer Paul Vallas and wealthy lawyer John Schmidt, whose campaign fund reported Wednesday that it had $23,000 on hand.
Another potential Democratic candidate, Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, has about $1 million in his campaign fund. A spokesman declined to discuss whether Hynes planned to seek a higher office.
“This report demonstrates that Dan Hynes has substantial support throughout Illinois and that his supporters want him to wage a strong effort in 2002,” said Rick Cornell, the spokesman.
Illinois Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan, a possible Republican candidate for governor, reported he had $1.48 million in the bank. Jim Ryan has said he won’t run for the state’s top office if George Ryan, who is no relation, opts to run again.
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Dan Curry, a spokesman for the attorney general, said the large size of Jim Ryan’s campaign fund should not be read as an indication that he is readying a run for governor. “This signifies that it is enormously expensive to run for public office statewide in Illinois, and you have to raise money as early as possible and as aggressively as possible,” Curry said.
In one of the nation’s most costly congressional races, Republican Mark Kirk, who beat former state Rep. Lauren Beth Gash (D-Highland Park) to win the vacant 10th Congressional District seat on the North Shore, reported raising $1.98 million in 2000. Gash reported raising $1.83 million.
Meanwhile, Kirk reported spending $1.953 million compared with $1.943 million for Gash.
Kirk’s totals included money he spent in a rough 11-way primary battle last March, while Gash sailed through the primary without opposition. So, in the head-to-head contest between the two, Gash outspent Kirk.
The state Democratic and Republican Parties both spent millions of dollars in the fall presidential contest and for candidates for the Illinois General Assembly, records show.
The Democratic Party of Illinois spent $12 million during the last six months of the year. As of the end of the year, it had $464,379 in the bank.
The Illinois Republican Party spent about $4.6 million during the last half of 2000, both for the presidential contest and other races.