Conway’s campaign gets another hefty contribution from father
$2.35M donation lifts total to $5.5M for Foxx Dem foe
Democratic Cook County state’s attorney candidate Bill Conway’s wealthy father recently gave his campaign a $2.35 million campaign infusion, bringing the total he’s so far donated to his son’s election efforts to $4.85 million, state records show.
So far, William Conway’s contributions to his son’s run against Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx make up the majority of the approximately $5.5 million Bill Conway has raised for his campaign, records show. William Conway is a billionaire co-founder of the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm based in Washington, D.C.
Disclosure of the latest donation came Thursday night, just hours after Bill Conway held a news conference to outline his ethics plan, during which he blasted Foxx for allowing embattled Ald. Edward Burke to host a fundraiser for her previous run for state’s attorney.
The senior Conway donated the money on Jan. 2, but it was posted to the Illinois State Board of Elections’ website late Thursday night, records show.
News of the hefty donation comes just as the race is kicking into high gear.
Conway took swipes at Foxx on Thursday because Burke, the 14th Ward alderman now facing federal public corruption charges, held a fundraiser for her in 2016 at his home.
Foxx donated to charity the contributions that came directly from Burke, her campaign staff said. Her campaign kept other donations raised at the event, the Sun-Times has reported.
In response to Conway’s slams, Foxx’s team on Thursday called it a “hypocritical attack from a candidate who has taken (money) from his billionaire father’s arms dealing empire that to this day is contributing to the violence we’re seeing around the world.”
In addition to Conway, Foxx is also being challenged in the March 17 primary by former Chicago Ald. Bob Fioretti and former prosecutor Donna More. Two Republicans are seeking the GOP nomination: former Cook County Judge Patrick W. O’Brien and former county prosecutor Christopher Pfannkuche.
While Conway has gone after Foxx for her handling of the controversial Jussie Smollett case while he tries to link her to Burke, Fioretti has been challenging the signatures on her petition to try to get her kicked off the ballot.
On Thursday, Conway released his four-part plan to root out corruption. He also said he would refuse campaign contributions from property tax attorneys.
When questioned on Thursday about his father’s financing of his campaign, Conway deflected. Among other things, the Carlyle Group has investments in the defense industry.
“My family has resources. I haven’t been shy about that.” — Bill Conway, Democratic Cook County state’s attorney candidate
“My family has resources. I haven’t been shy about that,” he said as he stood outside the Cook County Building. “I wish Mrs. Foxx would spend less time attacking my family … and more time trying to get politics out of that office and getting corruption out of this city.”
He refused to talk about his father’s connections and relationships that helped his firm become prominent.
“I have never worked at that firm,” Conway said. “I dedicated my life to public service.”
Conway has raised millions of dollars, but the bulk of his campaign funding has come from his father.
In the last quarter of 2019, his father gave him three big donations — one for $650,000; one for $550,000; and another for $800,000, records show.
Meanwhile, Foxx had more than $757,000 on hand as of Sept. 30, records show. Since then, she raised more than $544,000, records show.
Foxx has made criminal justice reform and the use of restorative justice practices a focus of her tenure. But it’s been her handling of the Smollett case that has drawn national attention and given fuel to her toughest critics and opponents.
Smollett allegedly staged a hate crime and was charged with 16 counts related to hiring two men to pretend to assault him while using racist and homophobic slurs. Foxx later dropped all charges against the actor, who is famous because of his role on the series “Empire.”