From the Daily Herald:

Who is funding the governor's race
By Eric Krol Daily Herald Political Writer
Posted on 11/4/02

If money talks in politics, then Rod Blagojevich will be listening to labor and teacher's unions, his fellow Chicago Democrats and trial lawyers if he becomes governor.

Jim Ryan will be listening to business interests, lawyers and his fellow Republican politicians if he wins the governor's race.

Those special interests have given the most in campaign contributions to Blagojevich and Ryan, a Daily Herald analysis shows. And that campaign cash could determine Illinois' direction the next four years, says the state's foremost campaign finance researcher.

"People are giving money because they want access, and they have certain agendas and policies they want enacted," said Kent Redfield, a political science professor at University of Illinois at Springfield.

The way the contributions shake out confirms the governor's race is shaping up to be a classic city-against-the-suburbs and labor-against-business struggle, the type that has dominated statewide politics for decades. It also shows the political roots of Blagojevich, a Chicago congressman, and Ryan, the two-term attorney general from Elmhurst.

Among top donors, 18.7 percent of Blagojevich's money came from unions, 13.6 percent came from Democratic politicians and 11.4 percent came from lawyers.

Businesses accounted for 24.4 percent of Ryan's top contributions, lawyers 9.1 percent and politicians 8.9 percent.

The Daily Herald looked at the top 25 percent of contributions to both governor campaigns from July 2001 through June 2002. The top contributions made up nearly 90 percent of the money flowing into Blagojevich's campaign and 83.5 percent of Ryan's total take.

The fact that so few contributors make up such a high percentage of the cash fueling the governor's race is troubling to Cindy Canary, executive director of the watchdog Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.

"If money talks, who's listening to the public?" Canary said. "Does it drown out everybody's voice? Yes, I would say so, and on both tickets."

The analysis also showed:

- Blagojevich took $35,629 from his father-in-law, powerful Chicago alderman and ward boss Dick Mell. He got another $2,000 from the Coalition for Better Government, a Mell-influenced group that includes former city ghost payrollers and a convicted tollway thief.

Blagojevich also collected at least $240,000 from 25 businesses that hold contracts with the city of Chicago.

Ryan spokesman Dan Curry said the contributions indicate that the influence of Mayor Richard M. Daley, Blagojevich's campaign chairman, is a valid issue in the race.

"This shows the Chicago machine is Rod's personal ATM," Curry said.

Blagojevich spokesman Doug Scofield said the Mell contributions came "a while ago" and are "a small amount in the bigger picture."

"I think Rod has shown again and again his campaign has little to do with Dick Mell," Scofield said. "Anybody who's giving with the expectation of getting a contract is mistaken and will be disappointed."

Blagojevich also got contributions from two companies that have checkered pasts.

SDI Security Inc. gave Blagojevich $2,500. The company is owned by Pat Huels, a Chicago alderman forced to resign five years ago after taking a $1 million loan from a city trucking contractor to pay off back payroll taxes for SDI. Huels had pushed for city subsidies and tax breaks for the trucking company.

Imperial Crane, a city contractor that gave Blagojevich $10,000, ended up paying a $1.5 million fine to the state in a sales tax evasion case prosecuted by Ryan's office.

Curry said voters should consider that when they think about which candidate is better suited to clean up state government.

"Jim Ryan helped clean up corruption and Rod took their money," he said.

Responded Scofield: "Rod hopes voters make the same determination.

"Jim Ryan did not clean up corruption. He had a chance to clean up corruption, and he did nothing," Scofield said, referring to the license-for-bribes scandal that took place during Gov. George Ryan's tenure as secretary of state.

Blagojevich also got at least $24,500 from payday loan companies, an industry that's come under heavy criticism for taking advantage of the poor.

"The contributions won't reflect a change in his position on the issue," said Scofield, adding that Blagojevich has supported crackdowns on payday loan outfits while serving in Congress.

- Jim Ryan took campaign cash from an accounting firm that audited an Elmhurst charity whose former director is now being sued by Ryan's office for misspending state funds.

Oak Brook-based Wolf & Co. and its accountant Joel Herter have given $3,200 to Ryan the past year and $22,690 since 1995. Ryan has spent $113,071 in the same time period on campaign accounting services from Wolf.

The company also audited Life Educational Center, whose former director David Noffs is being sued by Ryan's office for allegedly misspending $500,000 in state funds the company received on phone bills, airplane tickets and other personal expenses. Ryan's office did not file criminal charges, however, and the Blagojevich campaign questions the appearance of a conflict.

In an era where auditors are routinely being held accountable for their client's misdeeds, they question whether the case got the full scrutiny it deserves.

Ryan spokesman Curry said Wolf & Co. "has no culpability in the case" and that Ryan will continue to use them as campaign accountants. Wolf has declined to comment on the issue.

Ryan, the attorney general, also collected nearly $500,000 from lawyers, some of whom Ryan's office awarded contracts to do legal work for the state. Back in the Republican primary, Lt. Gov. Corinne Wood had charged that Ryan collected $1.7 million in his political career from law firms that get state legal work through his office.

The Blagojevich campaign reiterated Wood's questioning the appropriateness of such donations.

"I would think if you're the state's top law enforcement officer, you might want to remove yourself more," Scofield said.

Curry said Ryan actually has reduced the amount of outside legal work since taking office in 1995.

"If he intended to use them as a fund-raising vehicle, he's reduced his ability to do so," Curry said.

Ryan also collected $10,000 from House Republican leader Lee A. Daniels of Elmhurst, who resigned as state GOP chairman in July after Ryan referred to federal prosecutors questions about whether Daniels improperly used state employees to work on campaigns.

The Blagojevich campaign called on Ryan to return that money to prove his claim that he's severed ties with Daniels. Curry responded that Daniels has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

"If any charges are brought, we'll return the money," he said.

- Both Blagojevich and Ryan received an avalanche of money from other politicians. Blagojevich got nearly $1.1 million from his fellow Democrats, making up 13.6 percent of his top contributions. Ryan collected $481,000, making up 8.9 percent of his top contributions.

Canary, of Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, said politicians passing such large amounts to the governor candidates represents "a bit of money laundering" because it's nearly impossible for voters to figure out the original source of that money.

Redfield attributes the larger-than-normal influx of cash from politicians to lawmakers who want access to the new governor, who will control the purse strings on a $54 billion state budget.

- Labor and teachers' unions are coming up big for Blagojevich, giving him $1.5 million so far.

Ryan has criticized Blagojevich for taking money from the Chicago Teachers' Union, which is pushing for the ability to be able to strike for a wider variety of reasons. Blagojevich has said he backs the union's position. Critics say such a change would undo the Chicago school reform that has helped inner-city students improve test scores in recent years.

Ryan has collected $93,000 in top donations from unions so far.

- Blagojevich is making strides among businesses and doctors, two groups that typically give to Republicans.

The Democrat has received $1.27 million from businesses, coming close to the $1.56 million Ryan has gotten from businesses and business-related political action committees.

Blagojevich actually got more than Ryan from doctors and medical service providers, collecting nearly $196,000 to Ryan's $145,000.

The Blagojevich campaign attributed the fund-raising success to business and doctors, like voters in Illinois, looking for something different out of state government.

- Vice and dice: Blagojevich has collected $213,500 from gambling and horse racing interests while Ryan has received $45,500. Blagojevich also got $98,500 from liquor interests, outpacing Ryan's $75,150.

- Ryan is relying more on individual donors than Blagojevich. Individuals gave Ryan $732,000 among top donors, his second largest group of contributors. Blagojevich got nearly $550,000 in top donations from individuals.

- Blagojevich also is collecting more overall from his top donors and in larger amounts. The top 25 percent of Blagojevich's contributions totaled $8 million, compared to $6 million for Ryan. Blagojevich had 221 contributions of $10,000 or more, while Ryan had 152.

Canary said two changes would help reduce the influence of big money in state politics: limiting contributions and limiting the amount politicians can transfer to each other.