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With just a few days left until the election, some big donations and endorsements are still coming in for Bloomington-Normal mayoral candidates.
The McLean County Republicans gave $28,000 to Normal mayoral candidate Kathleen Lorenz's campaign in the past week, according to state election filings. Lorenz and fellow council member Chemberly Harris are challenging incumbent Chris Koos, who is seeking his sixth term.
Lorenz told WGLT on Saturday the large McLean County Republicans donation was actually money from a specific donor who wanted to support her campaign. Lorenz said the donor wanted to do that because they “have a shared vision, that it’s time for new leadership.”
“I am not beholden,” she said.
Lorenz said it was the donor’s preference to pass the money through a separate organization, instead of trying to do so directly. Lorenz called it a “ridiculous amount of money” but that it helped her pay for advertising during the home stretch of the campaign.
Lorenz argued strongly that the $28,000 contribution – which was technically in the McLean County Republicans’ name – does not equate to an endorsement by the local GOP. Lorenz said Saturday that she turned down the “endorsement” of the McLean County Republicans “because of the nonpartisan nature of the race. The very thing my opponent is blasting me for.”
Indeed, in a Facebook post Saturday, Koos’ campaign said, “the McLean County GOP is trying to buy this race.”
“So it's worth saying again: Mayor is a nonpartisan position. And our community deserves a leader like Mayor Koos who puts people over politics,” Koos’ campaign wrote.
Lorenz would not tell WGLT who gave her the $28,000 through the McLean County Republicans. The Republicans received $29,200 split evenly across two contributions from a person on Feb. 20, state election filings show. It’s unclear if that’s the same donor to which Lorenz referred.
WGLT asked Lorenz on Saturday if the Feb. 20 contributor was her donor. She did not answer directly.
“If you want to dig into this, it’s all public,” Lorenz texted to WGLT. She said the "GOP did vote as a board to donate this money to me."
The $29,200 was split into two $14,600 contributions, initially both listed as coming from the same person, election filings show. A subsequent clarifying letter filed by the GOP with the State Board of Elections said the two $14,600 contributions actually came from two separate people who share a last name.
That amount ($14,600 total) is also the maximum contribution a person can make to a political party committee. Individual donors can typically only give a maximum of $7,300 to candidate political committees.
Koos, meanwhile, picked up endorsements from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, and former Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger in the last few days.
Bloomington and Normal mayoral and council elections are technically nonpartisan, although both McLean County Republicans and Democrats have endorsed candidates anyway. Again, Lorenz disputed that what the local GOP has done constitutes an endorsement.
These latest developments are part of a larger spider web of endorsements and other types of support offered to the candidates on the ballot Tuesday, April 1. See the interactive graphic above to see more endorsements.
Did we miss one? Contact us at news@wglt.org.
Learn more about the candidates and other issues on the ballot with the WGLT Voter Guide. Early voting is open Sunday and Monday. Election Day is Tuesday, with polls open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
