Chicago Mayoral Election 2023

High-Dollar Donations Fueling Johnson and Vallas in Chicago Election. How Might That Influence the Next Mayor?

NBC Universal, Inc.

Millions of dollars are being spent in support of the two candidates running for mayor of Chicago, but who is actually funding the candidates, and what might they expect from the person who gets elected? NBC 5’s Political Reporter Mary Ann Ahern reports.

With just a few days left in the race for Chicago mayor, big money is pouring into both Brandon Johnson’s and Paul Vallas’ campaign coffers. How might that money influence the next mayor?

Records show Vallas has taken in more than $19 million in campaign contributions. More than half of that – nearly $10 million – has come from just 44 individuals or organizations that have made six-figure donations. Fifteen of his donors, largely from the financial sector, have given him more than $250,000 apiece.

When asked at NBC 5’s candidate forum earlier this month what his wealthy donors may expect in return for their support, Vallas responded, “Someone who can manage the city, someone who can address the critical issues.”

Johnson has raised more than $11 million since announcing his run for mayor last year. More than 90% of that has come from unions, including the Chicago Teachers Union, where he has worked as an organizer.

When asked at NBC 5’s forum how he would be independent in any dealings with CTU, Johnson said, “Once I’m mayor of the city of Chicago, I will no longer be a member of the Chicago Teachers Union. I will no longer pay dues to the Chicago Teachers Union.”

“Any time there's one type of interest or one individual or a small group of individuals who wield undue influence over your elected officials, you want to be concerned,” said Alisa Kaplan. Kaplan is the executive director of Reform for Illinois, a nonpartisan research and advocacy group that focuses on money in politics. 

“You can imagine if you're an elected official, and somebody gives you $100, that's gonna have a very different impact on you than if somebody gives you $100,000, right? Which person's phone call are you more likely to take?” Kaplan added.

Illinois does limit contributions to $6,900 per individual donor each election cycle. But the law removes those caps if a candidate puts more than $100,000 into his or her own campaign fund. Vallas did just that on March 1, opening the floodgates.

“The purpose of contribution limits is to make sure that elected officials pay attention to the public interest and don't pay too much attention to any one person or company that has given them a big check,” Kaplan said. “Once the limits are off, all bets are off.”

Once in office, there is no law on the books in Chicago or Illinois that would require elected officials to step back or recuse themselves from doing government business involving campaign donors.

Chicago does have its own contribution limits of $1,500 per year for both lobbyists and entities with business before the city. However, individuals – like a company’s CEO – are not subject to that cap if donating in their personal capacity. And unions are not considered to have business before the city if they are negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, like CTU is set to do when its current contract expires next year.

“This is one of the big disadvantages of our campaign finance system that we never can be sure when there are these types of financial relationships,” Kaplan said. “We're always going to have those questions as long as people and interests are allowed to give these huge amounts of money. And that undermines trust in our democracy.”

Kaplan says structural reforms like public campaign financing or programs that multiply small donations could help even the playing field. But she noted that changes like that would require a lot of political will.

“The biggest challenge with political reform is always getting people who have learned to win the game to change the rules of the game,” Kaplan said. “iI's ridiculous because it's a ridiculous system that they're being forced to operate in. So we really should be focused on fixing the system rather than chiding each candidate for doing this or that. The system is what creates the behavior in many cases.”

Just since election day in February, Johnson and Vallas combined have taken in nearly $20 million, which is roughly two-thirds of their total campaign funding raised in a little over a month. Data on any smaller donations up to $150 during the first quarter of 2023 won’t be available until mid-April, though Reform for Illinois’ analysis earlier this year showed that those contributions made up a small fraction of both candidates’ total financial haul in previous quarters.

NBC 5 Investigates reached out to both campaigns to ask how voters can be sure their concerns will be heard equally to those of the candidates’ biggest financial backers, and whether or not they plan to step back from any official business involving their donors.

Johnson’s campaign said in a statement in part that he “will stand with working people, because it's what he's done his entire career and because the working people who make up labor unions -- including teachers, child care workers, custodians, and health care workers -- are the backbone of this campaign alongside nearly 8,000 individual donors and volunteers who have knocked on more than 600,000 doors since the start of the year.”

Vallas’ team did not respond to request for comment.

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