Foxx and her rival rake in rival amounts
She raises $350K; O’Brien says $270K gives ‘momentum’
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx pulled in more than $350,000 in campaign contributions over the past week, diminishing but not closing the gap between the first-term Democratic incumbent’s general-election haul and that of her Republican opponent who outraised her during the previous quarter
Foxx reported collecting $ 351,600 since last Wednesday, while challenger Patrick O’Brien pulled in $270,100, state records show. She remains about $ 225,000 under O’Brien’s total of $818,000 raised since the March 17 primary election.
High- profile figures from Illinois and beyond also opened up their wallets on both sides of the race, which is shaping up to be one of the most closely watched in the county and pits Foxx’s reformist vision against O’Brien’s law-andorder message.
“The state’s attorney’s donors and supporters made a clear statement that they want her to continue the work she has done so far,” Foxx spokeswomanAlex Sims said. “And when hearing the story of her opponent and his wrongful convictions, they are choosing to move forward and not backward.”
O’Brien spokesman Brad Goodman said Foxx’s recent influx of donations is nothing for him to worry about.
“Since the primary election, Pat O’Brien has outraised the incumbent Kim Foxx by over $225,000,” Goodman wrote in a statement. “Polling shows that Pat has all the momentum in the race, he will continue raising money and sharing the story of how Kim Foxx has failed and his plans to
bring justice and integrity to Cook County.”
Foxx’s latest cash surge comes after O’Brien’s campaign had the upper hand during the third-quarter fundraising period that ended last month: $401,851 compared with Foxx’s $232,786 total.
For the first half of October, O’Brien maintained the lead by raising $146,673 while Foxx collected $14,300.
But with the cash windfall over the lastweek, Foxx is catching up to O’Brien in this month’s fundraising contest. As attacks ramp up on both sides, money has been flowing after O’Brien blew past the self-funding threshold when he made a personal contribution to his campaign last Tuesday, lifting fundraising caps for the rest of the race.
Some of Foxx’s financial backers during the past week include Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and his wife Patty Quillin, who donated $75,000, andformer adviser to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and current Chicago SunTimes investor Michael Sacks, who donated $ 100,000. Another $100,000 contribution was made by Fred Eychaner, Newsweb Corp. owner and Democratic Party donor.
O’Brien has some wealthy backers as well: billionaire Citadel CEO Ken Griffin poured in $100,000 and Guaranteed Rate CEO Victor Ciardelli added $76,800 over the last week. This was after Ciardelli donated about $5,800 back in September. And Richard Melman, Chicago restaurateur and founder of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, gave $5,800 recently.