Alderman Toni Preckwinkle received a $1,500 campaign donation from the law firm of Michael Daley, the mayor's brother, according to campaign finance disclosure forms filed yesterday.
While the mayor isn't backing anyone in the race for county board president, he has appeared at a Preckwinkle fundraiser, and other Daley associates have hosted events for her. The latest revelation may indicate tacit support from the mayor exists.
Preckwinkle says the donation does not reflect an endorsement of the mayor.
“The person I know in the firm really well is Jack George (one of the partners),” she says. “I called him and asked for his help, and he provided.”
She says the campaign raised $100,000 from a fundraiser held Monday night.
Preckwinkle has disclosed $55,500 of donations listed in the A-1 reports, which are required to be filed for donations of $500 or more 32 days prior to an election. Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terrence O’Brien has brought in $45,500, while Clerk of Court Dorothy Brown has raised $16,500.
No records of A-1 reports, which must be submitted within two business days of the contribution, appear to exist for County Board Presidennt Todd Stroger's campaign.
“Stroger’s committee does not appear to have filed any A-1s,” says John Levin, an election specialist with the state board of elections.
The last semi-annual filings, submitted in July, showed Stroger’s campaign war chest with more than $640,400. It’s unclear how much money the campaign currently has, or how much it has raised.
The Stroger campaign has yet to respond to requests for comment.
Neither Republican candidate, Roger Keats and John Garrido, has filed A-1 forms yet. Nor has Green Party candidate Tom Tresser.
Preckwinkle received a significant boost with a $25,000 donation from local media mogul Fred Eychaner. The law firm of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s brother, Michael, donated $1,500 and Commissioner Larry Suffredin donated $2,500. The mayor has declined to endorse a candidate.
O’Brien’s largest donations came from Timothy Roti of Chicago, who donated $4,000, while Brown’s campaign received $10,000 from Asmole Desai of Des Plaines.
Large donations like Eychaner’s are legal now, but won’t be allowed after Jan. 1, 2011, when new campaign contribution limits are enacted. There will be a $5,000 cap on individual donations.
O’Brien’s campaign also benefited from a pair of $1,000 donations from contractors who have done business with the MWRD. One of them is Four Soar LLC, a Paradise Valley, Ariz.-firm that is owned by Thomas Van Weelden, former CEO of Allied Waste (recently merged with Republic Services), a contractor used by the MWRD. Records show that Van Weelden, a Chicago native, has donated thousands of dollars to Republican candidates since 2000.
Chicago’s Bonaparte Corporation, a systems and communications firm, also donated $1,000. It installed electrical wiring at the MWRD’s Stickney plant.
O’Brien spokesman John Davis says an outside firm is soliciting donations, and the campaign sees no impropriety with such contributions.
Preckwinkle’s campaign also received a $5,000 donation from State Rep. Barbara Lynn Currie’s (D-Chicago) committee.
Most of Preckwinkle’s donations came from residents of the city’s North Side and the North Shore suburbs. All of Brown’s were from suburban areas. O’Brien benefited from donations from across the city and suburbs.