New super PAC Elect Chicago Women spent $400,000 on television advertisements and more than $50,000 on mailers this week in support of State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview)’s campaign to represent Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, Federal Election Commission filings show.
The group spent at least $285,000 on Feb. 3, one week after its creation, to air its first TV commercials in support of Fine.
POLITICO reported Wednesday that the organization is supported by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the country’s largest pro-Israel lobbying group, which has previously supported — though not publicly endorsed — Fine.
“It’s not great for transparency or democracy, per se, that we’re dealing with this entity that is likely going to spend more money than all these candidates combined,” Chicago-based political analyst Frank Calabrese said of AIPAC.
The FEC filings were mandatory reports on independent expenditures, which include advertisements that advocate for a political candidate. When those expenditures total $10,000 or more in a 48-hour period, a PAC must file a report to disclose the spending within 48 hours of the advertisement being first publicly disseminated.
ECW filed more than 13 hours late, according to FEC records, putting the super PAC at risk of government fines.
So far, at least three broadcast television stations have aired ECW’s commercials — Chicago’s CBS, NBC and ABC affiliates. Two versions of the advertisement supporting Fine have also begun running on YouTube.
Payments appear to have already been disbursed to other stations where the advertisement hasn’t yet aired, which, according to ECW advertising agreements filed with the Federal Communications Commission, likely include broadcast stations The U and FOX 32 Chicago, cable provider Xfinity, and broadband television service U‑verse TV.
ECW’s mailers, postcards promoting Fine’s campaign, were mailed to many 9th district residents this week.
Chicago Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th), who appears in the postcards alongside Fine, criticized its “unauthorized use of my image” in a video posted to Instagram on Friday. In it, she condemned the “increasing amount of dark money being poured into” the district’s Democratic primary.
Manaa-Hoppenworth herself is running against Fine for state central committeewoman, an internal Democratic Party position, and has endorsed State Rep. Hoan Huynh (D-Chicago) for Congress.
When asked for comment on the super PAC’s involvement in the race, a spokesperson for the Fine campaign pointed to an Evanston Now article where the state senator said she would “love to know who’s funding” ECW and called on the group to publicly disclose its donors.
Regarding Manaa-Hoppenworth’s criticism, including whether Fine would heed the alderwoman’s call to “denounce” ECW’s tactics, the spokesperson referred to a Friday statement to The Daily affirming her campaign “does not coordinate with outside groups.”
The statement then compared Fine’s relations with ECW to fellow 9th district candidate and Mayor Daniel Biss’ relations with 3.14 Action Fund, a hybrid PAC that has spent more than $300,000 this year in support of his campaign.
The difference, Calabrese argued, is that 3.14 Action publicly discloses its donors and mission, adding the PAC “plays by the rules.”
Meanwhile, Fine’s spokesperson criticized Biss’ track record.
“Nobody knows the rules of the road better than the guy who ran Mike Madigan’s super PAC, and we abide by the same rules as he does,” they wrote in Friday’s statement, appearing to reference Biss’ leadership of Leading Illinois for Tomorrow, a super PAC that raised millions to oppose former Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2016.
It’s too early to determine whether Fine’s purported connection to AIPAC, which Biss sharply criticized at a Wednesday candidate forum in Evanston, will be “counterproductive” to her campaign, Calabrese said.
But ECW’s involvement in the race was criticized in an email from Biss’ campaign Friday.
“Democrats in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District are not naïve,” wrote campaign manager George Lundgren. “They know when a campaign is being propped up by Republican money.”
Progressive content creator Kat Abughazaleh, who raised the most money of any 9th district congressional candidate last year, also criticized ECW’s spending in a video posted to social media Thursday.
Then, in a statement to The Daily on Friday, Abughazaleh directly attacked Fine’s purported connections to AIPAC.
“This is the same right-wing dark money machine that has spent years attacking our democracy and propping up January 6 insurrectionists for office,” she wrote. “When they cannot win voters, they try to buy elections through shell PACs with friendly names and undisclosed donors.”
AIPAC did not respond to The Daily’s request for comment on their alleged connection to ECW and its commercials.
Email: [email protected]
Bluesky: @ryaninevanston.bsky.social
Related Stories:
— Democratic congressional candidates spar over campaign donations at CSNA forum
— Bruce Leon refuses to withdraw from congressional race, defying AIPAC pressure
— Abughazaleh, Biss, Fine lead fundraising as $11 million floods congressional race
