Local candidates raised campaign funds in winning – and losing – races

KANE COUNTY – Some local candidates in the April 6 consolidated election raised cash – in varying amounts – to fund their campaigns, according to first quarter financial filings with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

For example, Lora Vitek raised more than $30,000, but spent $10,321 for her successful race for St. Charles mayor, records show.

Donors included Andrew Kolb, an attorney with Vanek, Larson & Kolb in St. Charles, who donated $500; Alter Brewing Company of Downers Grove, which gave $1,000; Bellissimo Holdings LLC, a Bartlett investment group and Frontier Development Group of St. Charles both gave $2,500; Corcoran Real Estate in St. Charles gave $2,000, records show.

Josh Waddell of Sycamore donated $2,500; former Kane County Board member John Hoscheit – who lost his own bid to to be 4th Ward alderman – donated $1,000; Riverside resident Matthew Rogina, outgoing mayor Ray Rogina’s son, donated $250, records show

Vitek spent the bulk of her campaign cash for materials from The Hairy Ant Screen Printing, nearly $10,000, records show.

Her opponent, Maureen Lewis, donated $5,000 to her own campaign and raised $4,750 in donations, records show.

Among those donating was Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham, who gave $500 and listed his address as a Post Office Box in Seneca; St. Charles residents Emir Abinion and Jeffrey Meisner each gave $2,000, records show.

Big Soto Studios in Riverside gave an in-kind donation of $800 for media production; and Lewis also paid the company $2,525 for media production and graphic design work, records show

Lewis also paid $1,733 to Awesome Campaigns for yard signs, records show.

Aldermanic campaigns

Paul Lencioni, owner of The Blue Goose, loaned his campaign nearly $7,000 and raised $3,200 for a successful aldermanic bid for the 3rd Ward.

Billy Metzer of Blackberry Township donated $1,000 to Lencioni’s campaign; Thomas Wake of Naperville donated $500; Timothy Binetti of Wheaton and Joseph Roenna of Geneva both donated $500; Michael Julien of North Aurora donated $250; and Rob Marshall of St. Charles donated $200, records show.

The campaign spent $451.62 at 93 Octane Brewery in St. Charles, records show.

In the St. Charles 4th Ward race, Laurel Moad’s total receipts were $8,271 and she spent nearly $6,000, records show.

Adam and Celia Strauss of Chicago donated $1,250. Adam Strauss is CEO of Pekin, Hardy and Strauss, records show.

Other donors were BOKE Enterprises, which owns the Wine Exchange in St. Charles, donated $500, as did St. Charles residents Brian and Kimberly Filler and David Zucca of Oak Park, Michigan; Amy Hitchinson; Lawrence and Sharon Pittman donated $300; Grant Welling of Corte Madera, Cal., donated $250; Carolyn and Tony Gange of Geneva donated $200, as did Rebecca Holt and June Lee, both of St. Charles, records show.

Moad, who lost, spent $443 at True Knack Graphics of Elburn and more than $3,100 at West Valley Graphics of St. Charles; $500 at She Soars Digital LLC in Geneva for website design, records show.

Sugar Grove village president race

In Sugar Grove, Jennifer Konen raised $9,731 and spent $7,231 in her successful campaign for village president; Michels spent $10,308 but still lost, records show.

Konen received a $3,151 donation from Jerome Rich of Rich Harvest Farms, a private golf club in Sugar Grove; $1,941 from the Alexander Family LLP; $193.90 from Kane County Board member Bill Lenert, R-Sugar Grove; $500 from Ringo’s Golf Center in Crown Point, Ind.; $485.20 from Michele Bruno and Laura Kish, both of Sugar Grove; and $300 from Lisa Tonner, also of Sugar Grove, records show.

Konen spent $3,476 on signs from Sign FX in Sugar Grove; $1,000 to Consurge Strategies in Oak Brook for media production; and $418 at 4imprint in Sugar Grove for promotional items, records show.

Sean Michels, who lost his re-election bid to Konen, for Sugar Grove village president, started out with $1,588 at the beginning of the reporting period; loaned his campaign $5,500 and raised $3,500, records show.

Michels received $1,000 donations from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 701 PAC and Just Golf Inc.; and $500 each from Fox Valley Building and Construction Trades Council, Painters Council No. 30 and Selective Label, records show.

Michels’ campaign paid Goliath Slayer Communications $4,000 for consulting fees and $3,250 to Propellant Media in Atlanta for work on his election website, records show.

Michels also paid $1,815 to QC Press in Moline for mailings, $338 to Sign FX in Sugar Grove for yard signs and $700 to Rebekah Root, records show. Root is in charge of social media for the Henry County GOP leadership, according to its website.

Root also serves on the board of the Regional Office of Education for Bureau, Henry and Stark counties where Jon Zahm – who owns Goliath Slayer Communications – is board president, according to the website.

Suzanne Fahnestock, who was elected village president of Maple Park, did not spend any money on her campaign.

But Fahnestock had $20 cash at the beginning of the 2018 reporting period when she ran for trustee – and it’s still there, records show.