If political scientist Thomas Ferguson’s investment theory of party competition could be reduced to a quotation, it might be the following:
“The real market for political parties is defined by major investors, who generally have good and clear reason for investing…”
With the Feb. 24th election looming, we decided to peruse the financial statements and quarterly filings of the incumbent aldermen in the 28th, 29th and 37th Wards and some of their key challengers.
Due to resource, time and space constraints, we’ve only listed donors who have given the most money to aldermanic campaigns within the last twelve months. The listing should not be considered exhaustive or complete; only encouragement for the reader to dig into the disclosures, which are free and available to the public, herself.
CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.com
Alderman top donors list
Our findings were based on A-1 and D-2 Quarterly filings that are publicly available on the website of the Illinois State Board of Elections. Each alderman’s top donors are listed under the political action committee to which the donors gave:
28th Ward:
Citizens to Elect Jason Ervin:
O’Connor Contractors, Inc. || $10,500
Citywide Disposal || $10,500
Cicero & Lake, Inc. || $5,000
Michigan Avenue Real Estate Group || $2,500
Skender Construction || $2,500
29th Ward:
Citizens to Elect Deborah Graham:
Illinois Merchants PAC || $17,500
Friends of Don Harmon || $15,000
Local No. 150 – I.U.O.E. Local Area Political Action Committee || $5,000
Friends of Michael J. Madigan || $3,000
Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois PAC || $2,500
Friends of Bob Galhotra:
Galhotra, Gurnam & Amarjit || $13,000
Kulmeet S. Galhotra || $1,500
Friends of Chris Taliaferro:
Chris Taliaferro: > $6,000
Friends of Barbara McGowen || $2,500
Infrastructure Engineering || $1,000
37th Ward:
Citizens to Elect Emma Mitts:
IMPAC || $10,000
16th & Millard Store Inc. || $5,000
Illinois Merchants Political Action Committee || $3,000
Walnut Street Properties Inc. || $1,500
N.W. Food & Liquor Inc. || $1,500
Citizens to Elect Tara Stamps:
Chicago Teachers Union || $42,000
UFCW Local 881 PAC || $9,881.75
Karla Stamps || $5,000
Cook County College Teachers Union || $7,000
Chicago Federation of Labor and Industrial Union Council PAC || $3,000
