Career Patrons
Current Constitutional Officers & Legislative Leaders
For an index of donor profiles, click
here.
WHO ARE THE CAREER PATRONS?
These are the people, the political action committees, the corporations
and the labor unions that have given the largest amounts of money
to support the political careers of our state's top elected officials.
Most are well-known names with significant legislative agendas in
the State Capitol. A few may be family friends with limited contacts
in state government.
WHY SHOULD ANYONE CARE ABOUT THE CAREER PATRONS?
IT'S ALL LEGAL, RIGHT?
Campaigns today are expensive, and candidates spend a lot of time
soliciting contributions. It is important for voters to know the
sources of all that cash. The most generous contributors have easy
access to the candidates and eventually to officeholders. If you
ever wondered who gets their phone calls returned, just look at
the names on the career patrons list. Their calls are answered.
ARE YOU CHARGING THAT THE PATRONS ARE BUYING
VOTES OR FAVORS?
Not at all. We're simply saying it is important to know whom candidates
go to time and again for campaign contributions. These are not nickel-and-dime
supporters. These are major donors.
IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE SYSTEM? SHOULD
PEOPLE AND GROUPS BE PROHIBITED FROM GIVING THESE AMOUNTS OF MONEY?
Yes, there's a lot that's wrong with the campaign finance system
in Illinois. We could restore some integrity to our election system
by prohibiting contributions from corporations and labor unions
- a practice already banned in many other states and in elections
for Congress and the White House. Second, there ought to be reasonable
limits on all other contributions.
WHERE WOULD YOU SET THE LIMIT ON CONTRIBUTIONS?
It's open to debate. In 1997, a Blue Ribbon task force (Illinois
Campaign Finance Task Force) recommended limits of $2,000 for a
primary and $2,000 for a general election. Kent Redfield - in his
recent book Money Counts - suggested a limit of $2,500 for a primary
election and $2,500 for the general election. Those are reasonable
limitations.
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