Jan. 28--The mayor of a troubled suburb quickly came up with more than $70,000 in the nick of time to pay off a campaign fine and keep his name on the ballot -- capping the latest unusual political drama for Harvey's longtime leader.
On Tuesday, Mayor Eric Kellogg's campaign turned in a $72,750 check to the Illinois State Board of Elections, staving off one of the most serious threats to his tenure as mayor since he was first elected more than a decade ago. The check came just two days before the agency could have ordered him off the April ballot for not paying a long overdue fine for campaign finance violations.
Mayor of an impoverished south suburb of 25,000 people, Kellogg had to raise more in two weeks than he'd raised in the past two years. Kellogg was not required to disclose how his campaign raised the cash so quickly.
His spokesman did not immediately respond to emailed questions about who gave and how much. But past filings have shown donors included strip clubs, liquor stores, firms with city contracts and city workers.
The fundraising is the latest sideshow in a series of Kellogg re-election campaigns that have been distinctive even for Illinois' historically rough-and-tumble politics.
For Kellogg's first re-election bid, in 2007, an undercover FBI agent set up a political fund that supported Kellogg and pumped about $130,000 into the race. The Tribune uncovered the connection last year, with the FBI since refusing to discuss why its agent did it. Kellogg was never charged with a crime.
By Kellogg's 2011 re-election bid, the mayor stopped filing the mandatory disclosure reports on who gave to his campaign -- a rare move by a sitting politician. Even though the forms are the only way for voters to figure out who's funding a candidate, the State Board of Elections did little to force him to comply.
In February 2014, as questions about the delays were mounting, Kellogg's campaign filed a backlog of overdue reports with the state. Kellogg's campaign had already been fined $5,000, and in June the board levied more than $67,000 in additional fines for taking so long to turn in the required disclosures.
Still, that didn't appear to kick-start massive fundraising in Kellogg's camp. In reports later turned into the state, his campaign said it raised nothing last summer. The state board sent a reminder letter to Kellogg's camp in the fall -- noting the debt had to be paid by Jan. 29 or his name would be removed from the April ballot.
After paying its bills, his campaign ended 2014 with less than $4,000 in the bank, according to its filings. The campaign's lawyer, in a Jan. 15 letter, said the balance had dwindled to just $500. He attributed the delays to an ill relative of Kellogg's who oversaw the campaign books, called the debt a "significant hardship" and asked that the fines be more than halved.
But the board refused, leaving Kellogg at risk of becoming the first elected leader kicked off the Cook County ballot for owing the state, according to the county clerk's office.
Over the next 12 days, the cash appeared. Just how remains unclear.
By law, if anyone donates $1,000 or more at one time, campaigns are supposed to file a notice with the state board within five days of the donation. No such notices have been filed.
Otherwise, Kellogg can wait to report the source of the cash until April 15 -- a week after the election.
jmahr@tribpub.com
mwalberg@tribpub.com
Twitter @joemahr1
Twitter @mattwalberg1
