In Illinois politics, campaign money goes round and round, records show

[Freddie Stubbs]

By Kevin McDermott
Post-Dispatch Springfield Bureau
01/25/2004

It's all legal,
his aides say

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, legally barred from using his state campaign money for his U.S. Senate bid, instead funneled thousands of those dollars into Chicago's Democratic machine last year - then received donations in similar amounts from the same sources for his Senate campaign, records show.

A Hynes official last week said the donations and re-donations are a routine part of politics, and weren't an attempt to slip restricted state campaign money into Hynes' Senate campaign.

But others say Hynes and his supporters have effectively circumvented federal election rules that bar use of state campaign funds. Moreover, they say, it isn't an unusual strategy in Illinois, where lax campaign fund-raising laws lead to state-level war chests that are huge but hard to use in federal races.
"It sounds like money laundering," said David Starrett of the reform group Independent Voters of Illinois. "It's the Illinois way. Political operatives here can be incredibly creative. Their ingenuity is boundless."

A Post-Dispatch analysis of state and federal campaign records found that Hynes, one of the Democratic front-runners for Illinois' open Senate seat, regularly donated money from his state political campaign to key supporters in Chicago in the first half of 2003, then received similar amounts from the same sources in the form of donations to his U.S. Senate campaign.

more: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/St.+Louis+City+%2F+County/11283D283077FA4C86256E250023C735?OpenDocument&Headline=In+Illinois+politics,+campaign+money+goes+round+and+round,+r

[madrchsod]

1. it`s illinois

that`s nothing here in illinois,hell if this stopped no one would run for office. if it isn`t the republicans charged with corruption ,it`s the democrats. that`s the way it is and nobody really cares as long as everyone gets their cut...

[Freddie Stubbs]

3. Unless they get caught, like

George Ryan.

[Nailzberg]

2. Hynes is just another typical Chicago machine candidate.

When you look at the other Dems in this race, you realize we could do so much better than Dan Hynes, he's an empty candidate.