Blagojevich says he has raised record amounts

From The Chicago Tribune:

Blagojevich says he has raised record amounts

By Rick Pearson
Tribune political reporter

July 2, 2002

In a robust display of fundraising prowess unmatched by his predecessors, Democratic candidate for governor Rod Blagojevich said Monday he has raised more than $7.5 million since the beginning of the year, including $5 million since winning the March primary nomination, and he still has about $4 million in available cash.

The campaign of Republican governor candidate Jim Ryan said it would not discuss its fundraising totals until the deadline for filing state-mandated finance disclosure reports, which is at the end of July. But some Republicans familiar with Ryan's operations said Blagojevich may have as much as four times more cash than the Republican.

Blagojevich's record fundraising for a Democrat presents a severe problem for Republicans. Some of them fear donations to GOP candidates could dry up with any new revelations from scandals surrounding Gov. George Ryan's tenure as secretary of state and the alleged use of House Republican staff members to do campaign work on state time.

That is one reason Jim Ryan has courted former Gov. Jim Edgar to become the new state Republican chairman, hoping to use his continued popularity among voters and image of integrity to improve GOP fundraising efforts. Sources said Edgar has not committed to the job.

Republicans, who have held the governor's mansion for 26 years, have traditionally enjoyed a tremendous fundraising advantage over Democrats in contests for governor. That has enabled the Republican candidate to launch the early television advertising wars and to criticize the Democratic contender virtually unchallenged.

But when Jim Ryan went on the air Downstate, attacking Blagojevich's position on guns, gay rights and abortion rights, the Democrat was able to respond quickly.

The $7.5 million Blagojevich raised in the first half of this year is almost double what 1998 Democratic nominee Glenn Poshard raised for that entire election year. It also is more money than 1994 Democratic nominee Dawn Clark Netsch raised during all of her election year.

"I am very encouraged that we will be able to mount the most vigorous Democratic campaign for governor in a generation," Blagojevich said. "I'm very gratified by this showing of unprecedented fundraising strength."

Dan Curry, a spokesman for Jim Ryan, said the prospect of Democrats winning the governor's office as well as the House and Senate will help the fundraising efforts of the Republican candidate. "I think the business community has that message and is energized," Curry said.

In Springfield, Republicans supporting Ryan filed formal objections with the State Board of Elections to contest the legitimacy of about 29,000 of the 52,000 signatures that Libertarian Party candidates filed for its statewide slate of offices. For the party to appear on the November ballot, 25,000 valid signatures are required.