Even out of office, Rep. Aaron Schock may continue to cost taxpayers money.
The special election to replace the Peoria Republican in the state's 18th Congressional District could exceed $150,000, election officials said.
Peoria County Steve Sonnemaker estimated the cost for a primary and general election to be between $75,000 and $80,000.
"If Steve said it was $75,000 to $80,000 for the county’s part, I would say that the total cost is probably double that for both elections," Tom Bride, the executive director of the Peoria Election Commission, told the Peoria Journal Star.
GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner will have five days from the March 31 effective date of Schock's resignation to schedule a special election. That election -- including any primary -- must be held within 120 days of the seat becoming vacant.
Schock, seen as a kind of new GOP face when he was elected in 2008 as the youngest member of Congress, on Tuesday announced his resignation effective March 31 after weeks of questions about spending irregularities.
Last week, NBC 5 Investigates reported that Schock had billed his office account and leadership PAC for over $16,000 in mileage for his personal car last year alone. On Tuesday, POLITICO reported that Schock had billed various entities for over 170,000 miles over for years, for a personal car he sold with only about 80,000 miles on the odometer. There were other questions about plane tickets -- including a $7,000, one-way ticket to Asia -- a posh renovation of his Washington, D.C. office, and tickets for concerts and Chicago Bears games that were paid by campaign and office funds. Additionally, the congressman’s staff has refused to respond to, or even acknowledge, days of repeated inquiries from NBC 5 Investigates about an entity known as Menards Peoria LLC, which was organized last April.
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The Office of Congressional Ethics reportedly launched an investigation into Schock on Monday. That office will lose jurisdiction once he leaves office but could turn its findings over to the Department of Justice or the Federal Election Commission.
