Krishnamoorthi ahead of rivals for Duckworth seat in cash race
WASHINGTON— Democratic House hopeful Raja Krishnamoorthi has a commanding fundraising advantage over his two primary opponents in the northwest suburban 8th Congressional District, according to new reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
The three want to replace Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D- Ill., who is running for the Illinois Senate seat held by Sen. Mark Kirk, R- Ill.
While Krishnamoorthi, whom Duckworth defeated in the 2012 Democratic primary, has the lead in money, a poll by a rival finds the March Democratic primary race wide open.
Krishnamoorthi, a Schaumburg resident and president of Sivananthan Labs, and state Sen. Mike Noland, D- Elgin, have been running against each other for months. They now face a newcomer to the March primary contest, Villa Park President Deb Bullwinkel.
According to newly filed Federal Election Commission reports covering June, July and August, Krishnamoorthi raised $ 420,010, spent $ 69,537 and has a cash balance of $ 945,832.
Noland raised $ 77,492, spent $ 67,305 and has $ 71,774 cash on hand.
Bullwinkel, elected village president in 2013, jumped in the race in late August after state Sen. Tom Cullerton, D- Villa Park, a former village president, dropped his bid for Congress last May.
Bullwinkel was a Villa Park village trustee before moving to the top spot. She is currently the co- executive director of the Automotive Service Association of Illinois.
She reported only raising $ 36,095 in contributions and loaning her campaign $ 5,000. She has $ 38,594 cash on hand.
Bullwinkel’s team sees the race as up for grabs, based on a poll of 400 likely Democratic primary voters done for her campaign by Anzalone Liszt Grove Research.
Bullwinkel’s campaign let me see the entire poll, taken between Oct. 8 and 11, with 55 percent of the respondents from Cook County, 37 percent from DuPage and 8 percent from Kane. The margin of error was plus orminus 4.9 percent.
Noland holds the lead at 29 percent to Krishnamoorthi at 22 percent and Bullwinkel at 8 percent.
That 41 percent are undecided means none of the three “has a defined brand throughout the district,” pollsters Brian Stryker and Kevin Akins said in a poll memo.
Noland has the most name identification— 36 percent to 34 percent for Krishnamoorthi and 17 percent for Bullwinkel.
Money will play a very big role in this 8th District race. Said Stryker and Akins, “If we have the financial resources to tell our story, Bullwinkel can win.”
So far, no substantial Republican candidate has surfaced and if none does, that means winning the primary is tantamount to clinching the 8th District seat in the November 2016 general election.
Illinois 10th: Schneider, Rotering and Dold
In the north suburban 10th Congressional District, newly filed reports show former Rep. Brad Schneider, D- Ill., outraised Democratic primary rival Nancy Rotering in the third quarter, while Rep. Bob Dold, R- Ill., the man they want to replace, beat them both in the race for campaign cash.
In the third quarter, Dold raised $ 434,467, spent $ 231,836 and had a cash- onhand balance of $ 1,251,688.
Schneider took in $ 422,807, spent $ 197,528 and has $ 700,619 cash on hand.
Rotering raised $ 205,062, spent $ 117,278 and has a balance of $ 793,537. Rotering to date has loaned her campaign $ 245,000, including $ 45,000 in the last quarter.
Schneider campaign pollsters Normington Petts surveyed 400 likely Democratic primary voters between Oct. 5 and 8 and determined Schneider was far ahead. The campaign would not show me the entire poll; because I don’t know how the questions were asked, I am not using numbers.
Rotering is the Highland Park mayor making her first run for Congress. Schneider is trying to make a comeback after being defeated by Dold in 2014 after he served one term.
In 2012, Schneider ousted Dold after he was in the House for just one term. Dold is able to stockpile campaign cash because so far, he has no GOP primary.