IL-18

Live From The State Fair: Kip Kirkpatrick And Carl Ray

Progress Illinois — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:47:19 -0700

At the county chairmen's breakfast yesterday, we also grabbed quick interviews with two candidates that are probably unfamiliar to most readers. First was Kip Kirkpatrick, who is running against Robin Kelly in the Democratic primary for state treasurer:

And second is Carl Ray, a Democrat seeking to challenge Aaron Schock in the 18th Congressional District:

Schock Ended Campaign With $100,000 In Debts

Josh Kalven — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:36:55 -0800

Earlier this month, we questioned GOP Rep.-elect Aaron Schock's statement in a fundraising letter that, towards the end of his campaign, he went "out on a limb financially by $80,000" to combat what he called "insidious, non-stop attacks." The phrasing of the letter made it sound like he himself had donated that amount. But all we could find in his campaign finance records at the time (which went up to October 15) was a $50,000 personal contribution towards the beginning of the campaign.

Since then, Schock's campaign has filed their "post-general" report, which details their receipts and expenses between October 16 and November 24. It answers our questions about Schock's "$80,000" figure, but also raises others.

The latest filing shows his campaign with $9,000 cash-on-hand and slightly over $110,000 in outstanding "debts and obligations." These debts are spread between four different line items (click image below for larger version):

Two of them are straightforward: a $9,300 invoice from the Peoria Civic Center (presumably for his election night party) and a $15,000 "win bonus" to Wilson Grand Communications, who appear to have been Schock's media consultant (the campaign paid the Alexandria, VA company more than $650,000 over the course of the year).

The other two debts amount to $86,500 and were probably what Schock was referring to when he said he went "out on a limb financially" in the weeks before Election Day. The first is a $16,500 printing expense -- perhaps for a last-minute mailer. The final line item is a $70,000 debt to Sara A. Owens of Peoria for "contractual services."

So who's Sara Owens? According to his FEC records, she was a paid campaign staffer. Her name first surfaced in Schock's payroll records in May and she continued receiving $2,500 bi-monthly checks through Election Day.

So what "services" did the campaign "contract" her to provide at the last-minute? It's possible that Owens advanced the campaign that amount for some last-minute ad spending. After all, in his fundraising letter, Schock referred to his decision to match the Democrats' "burst of extra late campaign ad spending to hold our own."

But thanks to the vague description in their FEC filing, it's hard to know for sure what that money was used for.

Congressional Endorsement Round-Up (UPDATED)

Angela Caputo — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:41:37 -0700

Editorial boards at some of the state's largest papers have begun announcing their picks for Congress. The Beachwood Reporter's Steve Rhodes makes a good point when he says some of the choices will probably lead readers to check the front page to see if they've got the right paper

The Sun-Times, which describes the paper's editorial voice as "The Progressive Independent Conscience of the City," is backing Republican candidates in three out of the five most contentious congressional races it's weighed in on thus far. Meanwhile, the Tribune board is endorsing some liberal Democrats in three out of five of the state's most heated congressional contests. Following is a run-down (updated on 10/29):

6th District: The Tribune, Daily Herald, and Des Plaines Journal back Democrat Jill Morgenthaler, while the Sun-Times favors Republican incumbent Peter Roskam.

8th District: Both the Tribune and Sun-Times choose Democratic incumbent Melissa Bean over her Republican challenger Steve Greenberg.

10th District: The Tribune, Sun-Times, and Daily Herald favor Republican incumbent Mark Kirk over Democrat Dan Seals. The Des Plaines Journal supports Seals.

11th District: The Tribune and Sun-Times line up behind Republican Marty Ozinga over Democrat Debbie Halvorson and the Green Party's Jason Wallace. The SouthtownStar endorses Halvorson.

13th District: The Tribune, Sun-Times, Daily Herald endorse Republican incumbent Judy Biggert over Democrat Scott Harper and Green Party candidate Steve Alesch.

14th District: The Tribune, Sun-Times, and Daily Herald favor Democratic incumbent Bill Foster over Republican Jim Oberweis.

18th District: Tribune endorses Republican Aaron Schock over Democrat Colleen Callahan.

Rhodes sums up the lack of continuity between the Trib and Sun-Times this way:

In the end, it seems, institutional history and marketing labels don't account for much; both papers are similarly -- even drearily -- located on the political spectrum. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised by any of their endorsements anymore.

Two New Congressional Ads

Josh Kalven — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:01:21 -0700

Two Democratic congressional campaigns have new television ads out this week. First, here's a spot from 18th District candidate Colleen Callahan hitting Republican opponent Aaron Schock over "Notarygate":

As we noted in the Early Bird, the state's attorney in Peoria decided not to pursue charges against Schock, citing the statute of limitations and the absence of any evidence of willfull wrongdoing. That being said, Schock's misleading initial explanation -- that it was all just a "clerical mistake" -- deserves some scrutiny.

Second, here's Rep. Bill Foster's new ad in the 14th District:

Like his first TV spot this fall, this one emphasizes "independent solutions" and never mentions the word Democrat.

States Attorney Investigating Schock (UPDATED)

Josh Kalven — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 08:07:17 -0700

As both Capitol Fax and Peoria Pundit noted yesterday evening, local media are reporting that the States Attorney office in Peoria has decided to investigate evidence that 18th District GOP congressional candidate Aaron Schock notarized a backdated document for his parents. The alleged incident -- which may amount to a misdemeanor -- occurred eight years ago and was recounted by Schock's father in court proceedings.

When initially asked about it, Schock claimed it had simply been a "clerical mistake." But his father's testimony makes clear that the backdating was absolutely intentional.

Democrat Colleen Callahan brought the evidence to the states attorney's attention and has been hitting the issue hard on the campaign trail. But all sides seem to acknowledge that no charges are likely to brought, even if they do find wrongdoing:

During an appearance of Callahan's supporters in Peoria, attorney and former congressional candidate Doug Stephens said the statute of limitations is likely up on any misdemeanor charges that could arise from the alleged backdating.

As Rich Miller has repeatedly argued, the real issue here should be that Shock responded by misleadingly downplaying his act, rather than owning up to it:

To me, the alleged misdemeanor is no big deal. What I found appalling was that the local media allowed Schock to claim without challenge that the apparent back-dating was a “clerical mistake” when his own father testified under oath that it was a deliberate act.

I guess it really is always the cover-up that gets you.

UPDATE: The states attorney quickly concluded the investigation on October 20 after he "reviewed the allegations and not only found no information to show official misconduct by a notary public."

"A Clerical Mistake" (UPDATED)

Josh Kalven — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:17:31 -0700

As we noted yesterday, 18th District GOP congressional candidate Aaron Schock is taking some heat from his Democratic opponent over the revelation that he notarized a back-dated document for his parents in 2000. The initial AP article quoted a notary public from New Jersey saying point-blank that doing so is "illegal." Meanwhile, Schock contends that the job of a notary is simply to verify the identity of the signer. Now he's describing the source of the controversy as a mere "clerical mistake":

“The fundamental role of a notary is to verify the person signing the document. Now, if there was an incorrect date on it, that was a mistake that I made. It was a clerical mistake and it was made over eight years ago. The relevance that has to the United States congressional race now, eight years later, I'm not sure”, said Shock.

A clerical mistake suggests that the back-dating was unintentional. But the AP article makes clear that Schock's parents knew exactly what they were doing.

Capitol Fax's Rich Miller rips into the Peoria media -- and rightfully so -- for failing to hold Schock accountable on this issue:

It’s truly unfortunate that the local media doesn’t seem to be calling Schock out on this fabrication, allowing the arguments to be played as a he said, she said affair without providing factual context.

Meanwhile, Colleen Callahan is calling for a criminal investigation:

Terry Towery, the campaign manager for Democrat Colleen Callahan, says she has asked Peoria County State's Attorney Kevin Lyons to investigate, and believes Lyons has agreed. Lyons' office declined to answer questions.

UPDATE (2 pm): Billy Dennis weighs in:

[T]he whole “youthful” indescretion” thing isn’t washing with me either. He was old enough to BE a notary public in the first place, which means somewhere along the line he willingly assumed the responsibiity to vouch for the honesty of the documents he was notarizing. He was also a member of the Peoria School District 150 Board at the time. Presumably, somewhere along the line, he told voters to trust him despite about his age.

Now that he got caught screwing up, he’s playing the “youthful indescretion” card like he was caught shoplifting or something.

My advice — and he’s taken my advice before — is to just say “I screwed up” and stop blaming others and stop making excuses. The underlying offense isn’t all that bad. And as both Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon learned, its not the crime it’s the coverup that willl bite you in the ass.

Third Quarter Fundraising Figures

Josh Kalven — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:11:56 -0700

Yesterday, marked the deadline for congressional candidates to file their quarterly fundraising reports. As in the first and second quarters, we've compiled the figures in the table below.

NOTE: The amount raised column in this table includes total contributions plus transfers from other political committees.

In most of the races, the fundraising dynamic looks much the same as last quarter. Reps. Bean and Roskam, as well as GOP challenger Aaron Schock, continue to significantly outraise their opponents. In the 10th District, Dan Seals posted another round of impressive numbers -- the highest of any Democratic U.S House candidate in the state -- but still not quite enough to keep pace with Rep. Kirk. Again, Scott Harper is nipping at the heels of 13th District GOP Rep. Judy Biggert.

The 11th District numbers are one of the few surprises. In the second quarter, Republican Marty Ozinga impressed a lot of observers with his $800K haul. This time around, Democrat Debbie Halvorson regained control of the money game by raising $577,000 to his $312,000. In order to keep his cash-on-hand in the black, Ozinga also loaned his campaign $250,000 of his own money -- bringing his total personal contribution this cycle to $320,000.

Another eyebrow-raiser was Jim Oberweis' absolutely dismal performance in the 14th District, where he didn't even manage to raise $100K. It seems fair to say that, despite his charm offensive, Republicans have given up on the ice cream man. But considering he loaned the campaign half-a-million dollars last quarter, it seems he hasn't lost faith in himself.

Schock's Notary Problem

Adam Doster — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:39:13 -0700

In politics, it's all about timing. For 18th District GOP congressional candidate Aaron Schock, a new AP article -- which suggests he may have committed a misdemeanor in his capacity as a notary public -- couldn't have come at a more inopportune moment.

Here's the gist of the piece. In 2000, Schock's parents, under the guidance of some tax specialists later accussed of tax fraud, put some of their money and property into a variety of corporations and a charitable trust beginning January 1, 2000 as a way to reduce their tax burden legally. Despite repeated requests, the specialists failed to provide some of the documents for the couple to sign until spring of the next year. Once they received the documents, their then 19-year old son Aaron, who became a notary while working at a gravel company in high school, watched his parents retroactively sign the document with the January 1 date, denoting the time themselves when the tax shelters were formally established. This was verified during his father Robert's testimony at the fraud case this past July.

A trial transcript shows Richard Schock was asked, "And your son, Aaron, would not have signed this on January 1 of 2000; isn't that correct?"

"That's correct," he replied

Robert denies he intended to defraud the government and indeed prosecutors did not suggest Schock benefitted financially during the questioning either. Meanwhile, Aaron told the AP his actions weren't improper. From his point of view, a notary simply verifies the identity of the person signing a document, not whether it's filled out properly. Others disagree:

But notaries also declare that they witnessed a signature on a specific date. Schock's notarization said the documents were "acknowledged before me this 1st day of January, 2000" -- which his father testified was not true.

"That's illegal," said Gerrie Pierre-Fleurimond, a longtime notary who runs a New Jersey-based training school for notaries. "To backdate a document ... is illegal. You have to notarize for the current date."

In Illinois, knowingly committing official misconduct is a Class A misdemeanor while doing it "through recklessness" is a Class B misdemeanor. Democratic candidate Colleen Callahan said voters deserve an explanation:

"Serious questions have been raised about Aaron Schock's conduct and judgment while serving as a notary public. The heart of public service is honesty, openness and trust," Callahan said.

In New Ad, Callahan Brings Back Daisy

Josh Kalven — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 07:16:03 -0700

Wow. Colleen Callahan, the Democratic candidate in the 18th congressional district, has a TV ad out this week and let's just say it's a bit of a throwback. The spot hits GOP State Rep. Aaron Schock for his ridiculous suggestion last year that we should consider selling nuclear arms to Taiwan if China doesn't cooperate with U.S. policy on Iran:

(H/T TPM Election Central)

Schock And McCain: Inner-City Republicans?

Adam Doster — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:29:24 -0700

Last night, State Rep. Aaron Schock became the only Illinoisan to grace the stage at the Republican National Convention. The 27 year-old, two-term state representative, who is running for Ray LaHood's open seat in the 18th Congressional District, is widely considered an up-and-comer in the party. In fact, he'd become Congress' youngest member if elected. But the topic of his two-minute speech -- that John McCain reaches out to Americans of all backgrounds, including inner-city residents -- seemed a bit surprising. Watch it:

I'd like to see some examples of how McCain is bringing inner-city Americans into the Republican fold. Back in June, the Center for New Urbanism noted that McCain's campaign website made no mention of urban policy. More recently, the Center for American Progress' Wonk Room pointed out that his site also lacks any plan to combat poverty. And in early August, during an appearance before the National Urban League, McCain advocated fighting inner-city crime in the same ways that the U.S. military has "clamped down" on neighborhoods and cities in Iraq. I'm sure that went over well ...

Meanwhile, Schock gleefully welcomed a recent fundraising visit from President Bush, who has not taken urban issues too seriously while in office.

Also, memo to the Daily Herald: Schock hasn't actually been elected to Congress, so you might want to change this headline: