Casten holds significant financial advantage over Conforti in 6th Congressional race

As the race for Illinois’ 6th Congressional District seat entered its final month, Democratic incumbent Sean Casten of Downers Grove held a tremendous financial advantage over Glen Ellyn Republican Niki Conforti.

Casten ended September with nearly $1.3 million saved for advertising and other expenses in the home stretch, far more than the $38,490 Conforti had on hand, financial reports filed last week with the Federal Election Commission showed.

Congressional candidates must regularly submit financial reports once their campaigns collect or spend at least $5,000. Reports covering donations received and purchases made between July 1 and Sept. 30 can be viewed at fec.gov.

Casten

Casten, who is seeking his fourth term in Congress, started July with nearly $1.3 million in his campaign account. His campaign subsequently collected about $474,534, including nearly $312,836 from individuals and $149,500 from political action committees.

Casten serves on the House Financial Services Committee, and he routinely receives significant donations from PACs representing companies and groups that committee oversees. Last quarter, he got at least $51,500 from such PACs, including $1,000 from Ally Financial, $2,500 from American Express, $2,000 from the American Investment Council and $2,500 from Discover Financial.

In addition, Casten serves on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. Donations from those fields last quarter included $1,000 from Apex Clean Energy, $5,000 from a group representing Northrop Grumman workers and $1,000 from a group representing Lockheed Martin workers.

Casten for Congress spent about $477,991 during the quarter. That included nearly $340,237 in operating expenses, a $110,000 donation to the Democratic Party of Illinois and $15,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, among other political contributions.

Casten’s campaign finished September with more than $75,694 in old debts to the candidate.

Conforti

Conforti is an energy consultant who also ran for the GOP nomination in the 6th District in 2022. This time she ran unopposed in the primary.

The Conforti for Congress committee started the third quarter with about $28,394 saved. It collected about $37,646 in donations from individuals, including $500 from Ted Balestreri, chair and CEO of California’s Cannery Row Co. and CEO of the renowned Sardine Factory restaurant.

Team Conforti also received $6,250 from three political action committees during the period: $5,000 from Huck PAC, which is affiliated with former Arkansas governor and two-time GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee; $1,000 from the campaign committee for former Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar; and $250 from the campaign of DuPage County Board member Grant Eckhoff.

Conforti’s campaign spent more than $35,425 and ended the quarter with about $38,490 saved and $8,000 in debts to the candidate.The 6th District includes parts of Cook and DuPage counties. Voting ends Nov. 5.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241021/us-congress-politics/casten-holds-significant-financial-advantage-over-conforti-in-6th-congressional-race/