GOP slams Mendoza over credit- card suit
Comptroller challenger’s team calls case from 16 years ago distraction
The Illinois Republican Party lashed out at comptroller candidate Susana Mendoza on Tuesday for apparently failing to pay a credit card bill some 16 years ago — arguing the ensuing lawsuit shows the Democrat can’t “be trusted to manage the state’s checkbook.”
The party contends the suit, over a $ 1,500 Best Buy credit card bill, disqualifies Mendoza, who is vying to replace Republican Comptroller Leslie Munger as the state’s check- writer.
Mendoza was 27 at the time of the purchase and was elected to the Illinois General Assembly as a state representative in November 2000 at the age of 28.
Now Chicago city clerk, Mendoza is in a costly election against Munger — who was appointed to the post by Gov. Bruce Rauner after the death of Judy Baar Topinka.
“It is concerning that anyone running for elected office would have to be sued to pay their bills,” said Nick Klitzing, Illinois Republican Party spokesman, in a statement. “But when that candidate is asking to serve as the state’s chief fiscal officer, such an incident is disqualifying. If she can’t take care of her own finances, how can she be trusted to manage the state’s checkbook?”
The court documents, provided by the Illinois Republican Party, show Mendoza opened a Best Buy credit card but failed to make monthly payments in the amount of $ 1,211.32. Another $ 350 was tagged on for attorney fees, making the total $ 1,561.32.
Mendoza’s campaign dismissed the allegations, saying Mendoza bought a Best Buy laptop with an agreement that she’d have a year to make a payment, and no interest charges. After a year passed, she didn’t receive a bill. She was later sent a letter from a collection agency demanding the amount owed, plus a fee from the agency. Mendoza took Best Buy to court to prove that she did not receive a bill, and the case was settled with Mendoza paying what she owed for the laptop, her campaign said.
In a statement, Mendoza’s campaign manager, Lauren Peters, called the information release from the GOP a “desperate attempt to distract voters” from issues Munger wants to “run away from,” including her role in late payments for courtordered disability payments during the budget impasse.
“The state of Illinois has never been worse off than it has been under the Rauner/ Munger team,” Peters said. “And they will say or do anything to distract the voters of Illinois from the truth, including a decades- old dispute, in order to avoid explaining how they managed to push the state further into debt while slashing social service.”