Last quarter Mayor Brandon Johnson pulled in one of the lowest fundraising hauls out of the declared 2027 mayoral field, though many of his better-funded rivals relied on the big-moneyed interests or personal loans that are toxic to his progressive base.
Johnson raised $123,000 during the third quarter, which began on July 1 and ended Sept. 30, according to state campaign finance reports that were due Thursday night. That leaves him with $379,500 in his campaign coffers as of the end of last month, after he spent $374,800.
The largest haul among mayoral hopefuls by far was Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’s $3 million raised in the last quarter, bringing his total cash on hand to $19.2 million after he spent $5.7 million.
That’s by design, Johnson sought to assure supporters earlier this week.
“We’re talking about one individual, $22 million,” Johnson said Tuesday when asked about his reelection chances, in reference to Giannoulias’ funds available at the start of the period. “What type of democracy are we really talking about — or whether or not we’ll have a democracy — if everyday people are shut out from the process because you have billionaires and corporations that are literally flooding the zone?”
Johnson logged just over $41,000 in not-itemized donations, which denotes contributions from donors that total less than $150. It makes up one third of his donations for this quarter, by far the largest ratio out of the candidates.
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After Giannoulias, lobbyist John Kelly pulled in $1.5 million, ending the quarter with $2.5 million on hand. He was followed by Chicago Housing Authority commissioner and businessman Matthew Brewer, who raised $404,600 and finished with $239,300 on hand. Businessman Willie Wilson was just behind Brewer, thanks to a $400,000 loan he gave to himself this quarter. After expenditures, he ended with just $48,500 on hand.
U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley raised $332,300 and had $343,500 as of last month, while attorney Bill Quinlan collected $282,400 and concluded with $204,200 in his account.
Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza was seventh in the fundraising ranking, with $276,900 in checks last quarter and a total of $1.7 million in her coffers. Trailing her were candidates Joe Holberg, raising $154,600 and finishing the quarter with $1 million in his account, and Dr. Lisa Nee, collecting $139,300 and ending with $50,700.
Only Cook County Commissioner George Cardenas raised less than the mayor: $107,800, bringing him to a total of $106,200 after expenditures.
Eleven main candidates have declared they are running for Chicago mayor in the Feb. 23 election. But the final list on the ballot may be shorter after contenders turn in their nominating petitions next week and kick off the signature challenge process after that.
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An influx of trade unions have kicked up their checks to Giannoulias, who is also seeking another term in his state office this November. Johnson is expected to receive a major assist from his closest ally, the Chicago Teachers Union, later on in the mayoral cycle.
But for the most part, the city’s extensive web of labor organizations — including 2023 Johnson backer the Service Employees International Union — have yet to officially announce mayoral endorsements.
Other special interests such as deep-pocketed business titans, school choice advocates and the restaurant and real estate lobbies have already poured money into Johnson’s challengers, all in a bid to gain access to whoever they believe will sit in the 5th floor of City Hall come next May.
Giannoulias has been a clear favorite among the city’s wealthiest individuals. This most recent quarter, Matthew Pritzker, an investor and heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, came in with Giannoulias’ biggest check received from an individual at $250,000, followed by Linden Capital Partners co-founder Brian Miller’s $125,000.
Besides Pritzker, so far this year Giannoulias’ top individual donors have been casino mogul Neil Bluhm; asset wealth manager Michael Sacks, a Democratic megadonor and CTU foil; and Groupon co-founder Eric Lefkofsky’s wife Liz, a philanthropist, as well as Willy Family LLC, an entity affiliated with the family, according to Politico.
Trade unions also continue to chip in. Committees representing engineers, ironworkers, laborers, sprinkler fitters and various other trades contributed nearly $800,000 in the most recent quarter.
Since the start of this year — which includes the months before Giannoulias officially jumped into the mayoral race — the joint-labor management PAC affiliated with Operating Engineers Local 150 and a separate engineers’ education fund contributed $2.3 million. Carpenters’ and electricians’ union funds gave a combined $2.3 million as well, followed by $1.1 million from laborers’ affiliated funds and $950,000 from the funds associated with plumbers and pipefitters.
Another big donor to Giannoulias last quarter was BL Management One, an LLC owned by Illinois auto dealer Robert Loquercio that contributed $100,000. And a political committee titled 613 PAC wrote a $35,000 check.
That committee’s chair Dov Gershon Weil did not respond to requests for comment on the group’s interests, though an archived website from 2007 said PAC 613 supports private school vouchers.
The mayor will lose control over the Chicago Public Schools system in January when the fully-elected school board is seated. But they will still wield the bully pulpit of the 5th floor of City Hall when it comes to lobbying Springfield or the CPS board on education issues such as school choice, not to mention introducing and passing the city’s budget.
Johnson is the only mayoral candidate who has insisted on extending the current moratorium on school closures that is set to expire next year, while Giannoulias has said the city must address underenrolled campuses.
Another candidate, Mendoza, also saw contributions from advocates of school choice. So far this year her largest donor is Jim Frank, the President and CEO of Wheels Inc., who has so far given $125,000. A board member of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, Frank is a frequent donor to the schools’ political action committee.
Former U.S. Attorney turned trial lawyer Dan Webb contributed $100,000 to Mendoza’s campaign. Webb recently represented Chicago Parking Meters, the holder of the city’s 75-year parking meter lease, during the City Council debate of its sale. He was also appointed the special prosecutor into how Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx handled the Jussie Smollett case.
Mendoza also received $1,500 from the Alternative Schools Network, a nonprofit advocacy group, last quarter.
Johnson’s largest contributor this year was the Illinois Black Business Political Action Fund, which gave $25,000 earlier this month and $3,000 earlier this year.
Last quarter, Indianapolis-based attorney Lacy Johnson was Johnson’s largest donor, giving $10,000. That was followed by $5,000 from Mary Gardner, Johnson’s former appointed CPS board vice president and later nominee to the Chicago Housing Authority board. Aldermen voted down her appointment on Wednesday.
A current CHA board member who is accused of defrauding the agency, Debra Parker, donated $250 to Johnson last month. She has denied wrongdoing. The mayor is in the midst of a power struggle over control of the agency after the board, when it was led by Brewer, appointed a CEO over Johnson’s objections.
Several of the campaigns that outraised Johnon only did so because the candidates made personal loans to their political operation.
Besides Wilson’s $400,000 loan, Holberg gave himself $100,000 (two-thirds of his haul) and Nee gave her campaign $50,000.
Quigley’s federal campaign fund loaned $200,000 to his local campaign fund. Kelly received a staggering $1 million total via two loans from Georgia-based company NPSG Global, a warehouse automation company, and Palos’ Sentinel Security. Both NPSG and Sentinel, the firm Kelly runs with Jerry Reinsdorf, had each already loaned $250,000 to Kelly’s campaign in June.
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