Hoffman calls on Giannoulias to disclose campaign funders
Update: Campaign staffers with Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias have e-mailed me with a list of his itemized fourth-quarter contributions. The campaign posted the list on his Web site today, according to an e-mail from spokeswoman Kati Phillips.
Now, she and Campaign Manager Tom Bowen are turning the tables on Hoffman, pressing him to release a list of "generous donors" to his campaign who matched contributions yesterday and today.
"David has based his campaign on faulty research, negative attacks and now is failing to meet his own standards of transparency," Phillips wrote. "Why should he keep his 'generous donors' anonymous until after the primary? What is he hiding?"
Bowen also demanded that Hoffman take down his television advertisements referring to a "nonexistent" news story.
Hoffman campaign spokesman Thom Karmik says the campaign discloses every "$1,000-plus donor" every 48 hours.
"Unlike the Giannoulias campaign, we have met every filing deadline and have fully disclosed every donor to this campaign," Karmik wrote in an e-mail. "The Giannoulias campaign has access to information on every one of our donors — a standard they have failed to meet."
Michael Powell, Hoffman's campaign manager, added that the matching donors from will be included in a report tomorrow.
"We will disclose those donors as we have every single donor who has contributed to this campaign, and they will be in the FEC report as required by federal law," Powell told me.
Karmik also pointed me to Hoffman's fourth-quarter filing and the Daily Herald article cited in the following ad.
The news story was published on May 29, 2008, not May 5 of that year as the Hoffman ad indicates, and it includes a total of about $450,000 in bounced checks, not $500,000.
Original post: Democratic U.S. Senate candidate David Hoffman called this afternoon for Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias to reveal his contributors from the last quarter of 2009.
The Federal Elections Commission allows candidates to file last year's fourth-quarter campaign reports until Jan. 31, but releasing the reports at that time would make it impossible for voters to know their contributors until after the Feb. 2 primary.
Michael Powell, campaign manager for Chicago's former inspector general, said in a statement that not disclosing the report before the deadline is "unacceptable."
"He owes it to the people of Illinois to disclose every donor to his campaign before they cast their ballot," Powell said. "Alexi Giannoulias talks about transparency, misleads the voters about how transparent he is, and then once again shows his complete lack of transparency and his disdain for voters."
Kati Phillips, Giannoulias' campaign spokeswoman, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
State legislators endorse Hynes
Several state legislators endorsed Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes for governor today, adding extra heft to his rising gubernatorial candidacy.
State senators William Delgado, Ed Maloney, Martin Sandoval and Maggie Crotty, and state representatives LaShawn Ford, Jack Franks and Bob Rita backed Hynes, citing his ability to fix the state's economy.
"With our state’s unemployment rate over 11 percent, I will be a governor who can work with the state legislature to make real progress and reform possible, get our fiscal spending in order and create good, high-paying jobs for hardworking families who have struggled long enough,” Hynes said in a statement.
The endorsements come a day after Hynes picked up support from former comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch.
His Democratic rival, Gov. Pat Quinn, this week earned endorsements from Democracy for America, a progressive organization, and several South Side officials who have denounced Hynes' recent television advertisement.
McCain to visit the land of Obama
Former Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. John McCain will visit Chicago next month to talk about, of all people, President Barack Obama.
McCain will discuss the Chicagoan's foreign policy during his first year in the Oval Office.
The Illinois Republican Party Victory Campaign will host his appearance at the Union League Club of Chicago. Tickets for the Feb. 12 event are on sale through the Illinois Republican Party.