GOP hopeful Evans gets cash boost from U.S. House Speaker Johnson — but total lags behind Foster’s

Unlike most of the other Republicans running for Chicago-area congressional seats, Warrenville’s Jerry Evans has received financial help from political action committees associated with House Speaker Mike Johnson and other party leaders.

But the contributions haven’t nearly been large enough to balance the scales with the well-funded legislator Evans is trying to unseat in Illinois’ 11th District, Democrat Bill Foster of Naperville.

Whereas Evans’ campaign collected $102,030 between July and September and ended the quarter with nearly $58,000 saved, Foster raked in about $579,885 in campaign contributions and ended the period with $2.2 million in the bank, the candidates’ latest financial filings with the Federal Election Commission show.

Political expert Kent Redfield isn’t surprised Foster has been a more successful fundraiser than Evans.

“Evans is facing an incumbent with high name recognition and huge support from his party and private sector interests who want to support Democratic candidates and be associated with a winner,” said Redfield, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois Springfield.

Evans

Evans started July with about $119,689 in his campaign coffers, its latest FEC report shows.

A music school owner who also ran for the seat in 2022, Evans reported $23,850 in receipts from political action committees during the quarter. Most of that cash came from leadership committees associated with federal officeholders or candidates, records show, including $5,000 from Johnson’s American Revival PAC and $1,000 each from PACs associated with U.S. Reps. Mike Bost of downstate Murphysboro, Juan Ciscomani of Arizona and Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma, among others.

Evans’ own leadership committee contributed $3,300 to the campaign; a PAC associated with former NASCAR driver and current GOP congressional candidate Austin Theriault of Maine kicked in $3,300.

The only other suburban Republican congressional candidate who reported receiving financial assistance from GOP leadership committees last quarter is Lake Forest’s Jim Carris, who’s trying to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider of Highland Park in the 10th District.

Redfield believes the politicians backing Evans could be opening their checkbooks not just to boost his current campaign but to help him down the road.

“If they think that Evans has potential, then helping him get experience and some visibility in this campaign will make him a better candidate in a future race where there is no incumbent or where the Democrats have a number of national issues working against them,” Redfield said.

Evans collected about $75,504 in campaign donations from individuals, too.

Evans said he’s been building grass-roots support within the communities of the 11th District rather than just focusing on fundraising.

“We are knocking on doors, holding meet-and-greets (and) telephone town halls and going to countless events throughout the district,” Evans said through a spokesperson. “I believe that talking to people and hearing their concerns directly is much more effective than anything money can buy.”

Evans’ campaign spent about $163,922 during the quarter. The campaign also reported a $2,600 debt to the candidate.

Foster

The Foster campaign started July with about $1.8 million in the bank, its latest FEC report shows.

Foster, who has served the 11th District since 2013 and who previously represented the 14th District, reported receiving $160,350 from political action committees.

Foster serves on the House Financial Services Committee, and nearly half the cash from those PACs came from organizations overseen by that committee. Such donations included $5,000 from PricewaterhouseCoopers International, $2,500 from Allstate, $5,000 from Discover Financial and $1,000 from Bank of America.

The Foster campaign also reported about $413,744 from individuals during the quarter.

“Congressman Foster is proud to have strong and diverse support from across the district where he continues to deliver results for working families,” campaign manager Alex Salisbury said.

Foster’s campaign spent about $215,055 during the quarter and reported $1 million in old debts to Foster.

The 11th District encompasses portions of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, DeKalb and Boone counties. Nov. 5 is the last day to vote.

And then there were four: A look at the races for the 6th and 11th district congressional seats

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