Tom Kacich: Big money, little reward in Republican primary

Mar. 9—It's a lot of money to spend on, let's be honest, the crumbs of Illinois state government. But that's what is going on in three Illinois House districts in southeastern Illinois where a trio of hard-right Illinois Freedom Caucus members are being challenged in the Republican primary.

Almost $600,000 has been raised on the three races just since Jan. 1, and more contributions and expenditures are being reported nearly every day, and likely will be until the March 19 primary.

All the money, much of it from labor unions hoping to bounce the incumbents and conservatives trying to save them, is going to a minority of a minority in the Illinois House: the seven Freedom Caucus members who make up a fraction of the 40 Republicans in the Legislature's lower chamber. There are 78 Democrats.

The epicenter of the intra-party fight is Effingham County, about 75 miles south of Champaign-Urbana, where all three of the House districts merge.

There's the 102nd District, where interim Ogden Mayor and retired St. Joseph-Ogden Superintendent Jim Acklin is challenging two-term incumbent Adam Niemerg of Dieterich. In the 107th District, Marsha Webb of Macon is looking to unseat five-term incumbent Brad Halbrook of Shelbyville. And in the 110th District, Matt Hall, a correctional officer from Vandalia, has raised the greatest amount of money in an effort to unseat three-term state Rep. Blaine Wilhour of Beecher City.

Effingham County is so deep red that in the primary election four years ago, 79 percent of voters pulled a Republican ballot. Contrast that with Champaign County, where in the same election, 76 percent voted in the Democratic primary.

Effingham County is a place where Donald Trump got 78.64 percent of the vote in 2020, among his best counties in the state. At least two of the state representatives being challenged use Trump in their campaigns.

Niemerg, whose name was removed from the ballot by the bipartisan Illinois State Board of Elections because of the lack of a notarized document, wrote on Facebook: "Just like me, the radical left has removed TRUMP from the Illinois ballot! I stand with TRUMP." Wilhour last month went to the Mexico border to call for the reconstruction of Trump's wall to stop illegal immigration.

If nothing else, the three primaries are good news for the owners of small radio stations in towns throughout the sparsely populated area. Stations from Effingham to Champaign and Paris to Robinson and running dozens of spots weekly by the candidates, totaling thousands of dollars in what has been a relatively quiet primary season statewide.

At Effingham's WCRC-FM, the six candidates have spent at least $12,413 on 776 commercial spots since early February. WYTE-FM in Robinson has taken in more than $2,000 in advertising from Acklin and Niemerg. Newton's WIKK-FM has yielded more than $3,500 in political advertising in two months.

Labor unions, hoping to further minimize the Freedom Caucus, are driving the big spending, particularly in the Hall-Wilhour race.

A host of unions — from the state Fraternal Order of Police to the national AFSCME union to the Illinois Federation of Teachers and Illinois Education Association — have given about $285,000 to Hall's campaign fund. In the same period, Wilhour has raised about $100,000 from conservatives including U.S. Rep. Mary Miller and her husband, state Rep. Chris Miller, of Hindsboro, and megadonor Richard Uihlein of Lake Bluff.

Spending has been lower in the Niemerg-Acklin race in the 102nd District that stretches from St. Joseph and Ogden on the north to south of Lawrenceville, about 120 miles. Acklin has received $115,000, with more likely on the way, almost all of it from the teachers unions. The former teacher and current part-time superintendent in Chrisman in Edgar County (which is part of the legislative district) says he wants to be spokesman for public education in the Legislature. But he'll also be more open to unions and teacher groups than Niemerg, who has railed against "the woke Chicago teachers unions."

Niemerg's campaign has brought in about $94,000 since Jan. 1, including $2,000 from veteran state Sen. Chapin Rose of Mahomet. Niemerg's district makes up half of Rose's Senate district.

Rose said he contributed to Niemerg's campaign "because I keep my word. Adam has been a candidate since last fall when I endorsed him, and was the only candidate until just a few weeks ago." He added that the state board of elections' decision to remove Niemerg from the ballot "is completely stupid, part of why people hate politics and helps to contribute to the dearth of qualified candidates out there."

Acklin said he's not bothered by losing the endorsement of a fellow Champaign County Republican.

"The endorsements for my opponent came mostly before I entered the race, so I'm not bothered by any of that," he said.

Fundraising and spending has been more modest in the Webb-Halbrook race, where the challenger has raised about $5,000 since Jan. 1 and Halbrook has received nearly $62,000, including $50,000 from Chris Miller, chairman of the largely outnumbered and ineffective Freedom Caucus. Webb is running because Halbrook has ignored his pledge to retire after five terms.

No matter what happens after the March 19 primary, the three districts will remain in Republican hands. No Democrat is running in any of them. They were drawn — by Democratic mapmakers in Springfield — to wrangle as many Republican voters as possible and thus benefit Democratic candidates elsewhere.

The winners of the primary election in the three bright-red districts will still be in the minority in the Illinois House next year, and probably for the rest of this decade. These winners will get no spoils, just more crumbs.