The Illinois Democratic Party has accused Darren Bailey, the Republican nominee for governor, of violating state campaign disclosure law by failing to publicly reveal who is providing him with a rent-free downtown Chicago apartment, where he has been staying since the spring.
Bailey on the campaign trail has told downstate supporters that he and his wife have been staying in Chicago since the day after the March 17 primary thanks to “a doctor that’s been gracious enough to donate his apartment for us to stay in the Grant Park area,” according to the complaint, which Ben Hardin, executive director of the state Democratic Party, filed Monday with the Illinois State Board of Elections.
By failing to report the arrangement, the complaint alleges, Bailey has violated the requirement that candidates report “anything of value, knowingly received in connection with the nomination for election, election, or retention of any candidate or person to or in public office.” That includes in-kind contributions such as donated services or property.
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“Mr. Bailey’s own remarks demonstrate that he ‘knowingly received’ the apartment ‘in connection with’ his campaign for the Governorship,” says the complaint, which links to videos of Bailey’s comments. “The record leaves no doubt. Mr. Bailey moved into the apartment the day after he won the Republican primary, described it as a headquarters for his Chicago-area campaign operation, and uses it as a base for meeting voters. He even bragged that building staff has asked for campaign ‘cards and materials.'”
Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the area is $2,965 a month, according to the complaint, first reported by WGN-TV. That is well over the $1,000 threshold at which contributions must be reported to election officials within five business days, or within two business days in the 30 days before an election.
Bailey’s campaign hasn’t disclosed any such in-kind donation, either on the stand-alone reports required for large contributions or on its quarterly reports for the first half of the year, the complaint alleges. Quarterly reports covering July through September are due next week.
“This is unethical and illegal — and Illinoisans deserve answers,” state Rep. Lisa Hernandez, chair of the state Democratic Party, said in a statement Tuesday announcing the complaint. “The Democratic Party of Illinois is asking the Illinois State Board of Elections to immediately investigate these violations and demanding that Darren Bailey reveal who is funding his Chicago stopover.”
Bailey’s campaign said Tuesday it had not yet received an official copy of the complaint.
“Democrats and their allies have tried the campaign-finance complaint routine before,” the campaign said in a statement. “This is par for the course. They’ll do anything to make this race about something other than (Gov. JB Pritzker’s) record.”
Because the election is so close, the Illinois State Board of Elections must hold a hearing on the complaint before Election Day on Nov. 3, board spokesman Matt Dietrich wrote in an email. A final decision could come at a special meeting if there isn’t time to hold a closed-door hearing and complete other preliminary steps before the board’s next scheduled meeting Oct. 20, Dietrich wrote.
If the board finds Bailey violated the law, his campaign could face escalating civil fines for each violation.
Bailey, a former state lawmaker from southern Illinois making his second run against Pritzker, has said part of his strategy is to do a better job appealing to voters in the suburbs and in Chicago, which he called a “hellhole” during the 2022 campaign.
In April, Bailey told the Tribune he was renting a South Loop apartment as part of an effort “to simply earn the trust and, ultimately, the vote of the people there.”
Bailey’s campaign did not respond to follow-up questions about whether the Baileys were paying rent for the apartment or who owned it.
This isn’t the first time this year that Bailey has faced questions about his adherence to state campaign finance laws.
In May, Bailey’s campaign acknowledged to the Tribune that it had held a May 22 fundraiser in Joliet, in apparent violation of a law barring candidates for state office from holding fundraising events on days the legislature is in session. The admission came a day after the Tribune reported that a Republican group in northwest suburban Barrington Township had called off a Bailey fundraiser scheduled for another session day.
Bailey hasn’t faced any official repercussions for the Joliet fundraiser because the law, which he voted for as a state senator in 2021, doesn’t specify who is ultimately responsible for enforcing it.
Just days before the 2022 election, the Democratic Party of Illinois filed a complaint against Bailey’s campaign and an allied political action committee, People Who Play by the Rules PAC, headed by right-wing radio host Dan Proft. The complaint alleged Bailey, then a frequent guest on the Naples, Florida, resident’s Chicago-based radio show, had engaged in prohibited coordination with an independent PAC.
A year and a half later, the elections board dismissed the complaint, finding that state law doesn’t clearly define what qualifies as prohibited coordination between a candidate’s campaign and a so-called independent expenditure committee.