Central Illinois Republicans are growing their campaign war chests as they prepare to defend themselves against energized challengers in the March primary and November general election.
The deadline was Tuesday for campaigns to file their quarterly fundraising reports with the Illinois State Board of Elections.
State Rep. Keith Sommer, R-Morton, raised $10,375 in October, November, and December 2017, records show, leaving him with $34,198 in cash on hand. That outpaced his likely Democratic opponent, Jill Blair of Bloomington, who raised $5,630 in individual and in-kind contributions and has $2,949 in cash on hand.
Blair, who is Sommer’s first general election opponent in a decade, said she was pleased with her totals given Sommer is a “longtime incumbent with a lot of name recognition.” Those last three months of 2017 were spent canvassing and getting her name on the ballot, Blair said. She has several fundraising events planned in the next few months, she said, and she was recently endorsed by the Illinois AFL-CIO union.
“I think we’re on track to meet or exceed our fundraising goals for this race,” Blair said. “Any race is about connecting with voters, and there’s lots of ways you can do that. Some of which cost a lot of money, some of which don’t. My focus is really on talking with people, hearing from the residents of the 88th District what they’re frustrated with, what they want to see change in Illinois government, and looking into those issues.”
Sommer called it a typical fundraising quarter.
“My approach is always the same,” he said. “The fact you have an opponent really doesn’t change anything.”
The 88th House District includes portions of south Bloomington, McLean, Danvers, and Stanford, stretching west all the way past Morton.
Brady House Race
State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, will face GOP primary challenger David Paul Blumenshine in the 105th House District, which includes parts of Bloomington-Normal. Brady has not faced a primary challenge since winning his seat in 2000. Democrat Ben Webb of Normal would face Brady or Blumenshine in November.
Brady raised $54,187 during the fourth quarter of 2017, leaving him with a sizable campaign war chest of $137,373 in cash on hand as of Dec. 31. That surpasses his fundraising totals at this time two years ago.
Fundraising totals for Blumenshine and Webb were not available Wednesday.
Mitchell House District
Three Republicans and one Democrat have filed in the 101st House District, which includes LeRoy, Heyworth and Farmer City. Incumbent state Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, is not seeking re-election.
Republican Todd Henricks from Cerro Gordo raised $11,195 last quarter, leaving him with $10,725 in cash on hand. Republican Dan Caulkins from Decatur raised $8,465 and now has $21,832 in cash on hand. Randy Keith of Monticello raised $9,433 and now has $8,686 in his campaign fund.
Jennifer McMillin from Decatur is running as a Democrat. She raised $595 during the last three months of 2017, leaving her with $411 in cash on hand.
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