From the Belleville News Democrat

Posted on Wed, Jan. 23, 2008
Cates bankrolling campaign for Wexstten seat
BY BRIAN BRUEGGEMANN
News-Democrat
Swansea attorney Judy Cates is digging deep into her own pockets, to the tune of about $670,000, to finance her campaign for a seat on the 5th District Appellate Court in Mount Vernon.
Her opponent, James Wexstten, trails her significantly in campaign money and is relying heavily on donors.
In state campaign-disclosure reports that were due Tuesday and cover receipts from July 1 to Dec. 31, Cates reported she and her law practice have loaned $659,516 to her campaign.
Cates and Wexstten, of Mount Vernon, are both Democrats and will square off in the primary election Feb. 5. There are no Republican candidates.
Cates said bankrolling her own campaign means she is not "beholden to these powerbroker lawyers," and that she's making "an investment in democracy."
She added, "I'm investing the money back in the people of Southern Illinois. I believe politics and special interest groups have no business in the courtroom."
Wexstten's report for the six-month period shows he took in $145,000 from a variety of sources. In addition, his campaign received about $219,000 in donations so far this month, for a total of about $264,000 in donations.
Wexstten also is putting about $75,000 of his own money into his campaign and has received about $37,000 in in-kind contributions. His donors include lawyers, laborers, medical providers and businessmen.
Bob Miner, spokesman for Wexstten's campaign, said Wexstten, who was a circuit judge before being appointed to the appeals court in 2007, is "a public servant who's spent 20 years as a judge and does not have the personal capacity" to bankroll an expensive campaign. He said candidates have to raise money from donors "when your opponent can outspend you simply by writing a check."
Miner said donors from diverse backgrounds support Wexstten "because for 20 years, he's had a proven record for being fair and balanced."
Individual cash donations to Cates' campaign for the six-month reporting period and for January total about $22,250. One of the donations is another $10,000 from Cates. The others are mostly from attorneys.
Cates said she hasn't had the backing of political machinery, and most of her campaign money is being spent "to get the word out, get our message to folks, let them know there is another candidate in the race, someone with a different message."
Wexstten, a moderate, was appointed to the appeals court in Mount Vernon last year by Republican Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier after the death of appellate court Justice Terrence Hopkins. Wexstten was a circuit judge for about 18 years before that. Cates is known primarily as a plaintiff attorney and is a former president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association.
Wexstten's larger donations include $50,000 from Fiber Bond, an Indiana company owned by Republican Barre Seid of Chicago. Cates has said the contribution is "not a donation. That's an investment."
Wexstten has said he's "not for sale for any amount of money, period."
Wexstten also noted that Cates has over the years donated many thousands of dollars to judicial candidates and presided over the raising of hundreds of thousands of dollars for judicial candidates she supported.
"And I get one check from a stranger, and that's the issue she wants to run on?" Wexstten said.