Juliana Stratton, La Shawn Ford and other Illinois primary winners who beat deeper pockets
One of the biggest stories to come out of election day was that several candidates with the most money came up short.
The obvious example is the race for U.S. Senate, where U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi reportedly spent $29 million on TV ads and benefited from another $10 million spent by the crypto industry against Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton. Stratton was the beneficiary of a lot of money as well, including from Gov. JB Pritzker, but she started relatively late and never came close to matching Krishnamoorthi’s total spend. Even so, she prevailed. Pritzker’s very public endorsement and independent expenditure support clearly helped get her in position. She got a late start, and it was touch-and-go for a long time.
The dynamic played out in some U.S. House races as well. The underfunded state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, eked out a victory in the 7th Congressional District primary over a candidate supported with huge outside money. Ford was endorsed by retiring U.S. Rep. Danny Davis. And despite an absolute flood of money from outside groups opposing him, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss won the 9th Congressional District primary.
As Pritzker, a billionaire, told me in a postelection interview, “A whole bunch of money does not a good candidate make.”
Let’s look at some state legislative races.
Rep. Jaime Andrade, D-Chicago, lost his primary by 12 points, 56-44. Andrade benefited from more than $840,000 in independent expenditures from groups run by DraftKings and Meta, as well as the Michael Sacks-fronted Common Ground Collective. Andrade raised $1.1 million on his own this calendar year, on top of the $214,000 he had in the bank. That’s more than $2 million in all.
He was vanquished by Chicago Teachers Union-backed Miguel Alvelo-Rivera, who raised $237,000 this year on top of the $31,000 he had on hand on Dec. 31. It was enough to get his message out — and part of that message was that Andrade was completely mischaracterizing the progressive immigrant rights organizer as pro-ICE. Also, he had a ton of foot soldiers and ran a very tight campaign.
DraftKings also spent $476,000 on Aja Kearney in retiring Rep. Nick Smith’s Chicago-based district. Meta spent another $96,000. Kearney raised $148,000 this year, much of it from the CTU. All told, she had $752,000. But Kearney was absolutely stomped by Cleo Cowley 59-41.
The pro-charter school INCS Action spent $68,000 on Cowley, and she raised just $27,000 this year after closing out last year with $13,000. This race was decided in the streets and with a highly effective ad by INCS Action. Sen. Elgie Sims, D-Chicago, deserves a huge amount of credit, but Cowley worked it hard. Rep. Marcus Evans, D-Chicago, supported Kearney. Evans did breeze past Sims in his state Democratic central committeeman race, however.
DraftKings and Meta spent a combined $474,000 backing Adam Braun in the 13th House District, and DraftKings shelled out another $310,000 for attack ads against the opposition (mainly James O’Brien but also Demi Palecek) on behalf of its former Statehouse lobbyist. Braun ended last year with $242,000 in the bank and raised another $211,000 this year. That’s $1.2 million.
At last check, Braun was in fourth place in a five-person race with a mere 11%. Demi Palecek was the going-away winner with 42%. She had just $14,000 in the bank at the end of last year, then raised $147,000 this year, most of it from progressive Democrat David Hogg’s committee.
Palecek appeared to be an authentic person and had captured the moment by declaring she wouldn’t deploy as a National Guard member to assist ICE. And, while it’s not fair, lobbyists have a horrible public reputation, and that hurt Braun. This was a gigantic upset, and the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership has another legislator.
Republican Josh Higgins had nowhere near the resources as incumbent Deputy Minority Leader Norine Hammond, but the Illinois Freedom Caucus-supported candidate had a message that resonated with MAGA primary voters. Higgins breezed to victory by 25 points in a three-way race. He raised a total of $54,000. Hammond had essentially unlimited resources at her disposal. This win is going to further divide the HGOP caucus. The far right lost every other legislative primary, but this was the top prize.
Appointed Rep. Margaret DeLaRosa, D-Glen Ellyn, had just $33,000 in the bank last year and raised a mere $50,000 this year. House Speaker Chris Welch refused to get involved in the race, and DeLaRosa was not the choice of some powerful local politicos or organized labor, but she nuked Lynn LaPlante 59-41. LaPlante, a DuPage County board member, raised $211,000 this year.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.