A formal complaint from a rival campaign accused school board president candidate Hilario Dominguez of violating campaign finance laws.
Dominguez’s candidate committee reported no contributions or spending in its first quarterly report, which “cannot be accurate,” according to the complaint, filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections last week on behalf of challenger Sendhil Revuluri. The complaint was first reported by Chalkbeat.
The filing accuses Dominguez — the political director of the Chicago Teachers Union — of failing to report the costs of gathering petitions, printing campaign materials and setting up a website. He also held a fundraiser, the complaint alleges, but did not disclose any donations.
The treasurer of Dominguez’s candidate committee, Kat Zamarrón, said in a statement that “the campaign is in compliance and more activity will be in the next report.”
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A spokesperson for his campaign said donations from his June 27 fundraiser hadn’t appeared by the end of the filing period on June 30 due to processing delays. Dominguez said in a statement that the race “is about parents, students and communities.”
“Unlike the billionaires who fought against giving Chicagoans a vote like this, they don’t have a lot of money,” he said.
The complaint cites the names of several petition circulators used by Dominguez’s campaign, who it said have been paid by other political committees. He told the Tribune when he filed to run he collected more than 9,000 signatures.
The filing notes his website has a page accepting donations through the fundraising platform ActBlue and reads “paid for by Friends of Hilario Dominguez,” which was still visible Friday. Dominguez first announced his candidacy in late May.
The complaint also lists dozens of social media posts in June, and notes a “professionally produced launch video” released in late May. “No printing, design, photography or video production expenditure was ever reported,” the complaint said.
Late Friday, Dominguez’s committee reported $44,415 of in-kind contributions from CTU for consulting and contractual services. The donations were received late last week, according to filings with the state board, which would fall outside the latest disclosure period.
Candidates are not required to disclose spending or contributions less than $5,000 in a 12-month period, according to Matt Dietrich, public information officer at the Board of Elections. Donations aren’t considered received until they’re deposited in a committee’s bank account.
“If they haven’t hit that $5,000 threshold, they’re not required to start reporting anything,” Dietrich said.
The complaint, which was shared with the Tribune by Revuluri’s campaign, will not be made public unless the state board determines that it was “filed on justifiable grounds,” Dietrich said.
The board’s next meeting is slated for Oct. 20 — two weeks before the November election. If the board rules in favor of the complainant, Dominguez will have to file an amended quarterly report and could face fines.
Hugo Jacobo, a political consultant, filed the complaint on Revuluri’s behalf. Jacobo chairs the political action committee Chicago Democrats for Education and has previously opposed CTU’s influence on the school board. Dominguez was endorsed by the union in June.
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Revuluri, an education consultant and a former board appointee, said his campaign filed the complaint because he was concerned about transparency in the race.
“If we can’t trust that (this campaign) is going to follow the rules, I as a resident and a voter would have lots of concerns about whether they can be trusted in governing a district that is responsible for the well-being and learning of 315,000 students and the oversight of a $10 billion budget,” Revuluri said.
Three other candidates are running for school board president: current board members Jessica Biggs and Jennifer Custer, along with attorney Victor Henderson. The race is expected to be hotly contested — and expensive — as CTU and pro-school-choice groups line up behind candidates. Nearly $2 million has been raised by candidates since last July.