For Immediate Release: Friday, January 9, 2019
Contact: Timothy Ryan, 347-257-5010 or tim@reclaimfairelections.org or
Kristi Sanford, 773-456-4024, kristi@thepeopleslobbyusa.org
New website maps contributions to aldermen,
linking money, influence and power in Chicago politics
CHICAGO, IL — Grassroots activists affiliated with The People’s Lobby and Reclaim Chicago launched ReclaimFairElections.org, a resource to help Chicagoans easily identify campaign contributions made since 2015 to Chicago aldermen. Users can enter their address or the name of their alderman to access a map of campaign contributors organized by donation levels, location of donors, amounts from political action committees, and more.
“Ed Burke’s abuse of power for his personal gain is just the tip of iceberg that is Chicago corruption,” said Morgan Oliver, community organizer at Reclaim Chicago. “Chicago’s neighborhoods are in crisis because developers, CEOs of big banks and global corporations and heads of private equity firms, who are almost entirely white and almost always men, run our city for their profit. They use their tremendous wealth to fund elections and they get results.”
“The real life consequences of big money in politics are racist and hurt all poor, working and middle class communities: displacement by luxury housing, the closure of schools and mental health clinics, the loss of important and decent-paying public jobs like teaching and devastating increases in fines and fees, all while investing hundreds of millions of dollars in developments like Lincoln Yards” says Jessica Creery, Chair of The People’s Lobby and Reclaim Chicago’s Fair Elections Taskforce. “Public funding of elections is among the most vital government reforms we need to make our communities safer and more equitable.”
Activists are calling for Chicago City council to pass a Fair Elections Ordinance, a proposal first introduced in 2016 to institute a small-donor match campaign finance program. This structure would level the playing field for city council candidates and remove the influence money has on Chicago politics — but city council members swiftly rejected the proposal in committee.
“This new web site mapping campaign contributions to aldermanic voters … will allow citizens to better hold their alderman accountable and to determine whom they should elect in the 2019 city elections,” said former alderman and UIC Professor Dick Simpson. “It is of great benefit to the media, community organizations, and the voters.“
Reclaim Fair Elections was built by a team of volunteers, in cooperation with The People’s Lobby and Reclaim Chicago. Data is provided by Illinois Sunshine, a project of Reform for Illinois.
The People’s Lobby’s Fair Elections Taskforce will host a benefit concert to support the cost of the website on Friday, Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. at the Co-Prosperity Sphere (3219-21 South Morgan St., Chicago). The fundraiser will feature bands Cordoba and Mermaid NV; registration is welcome in advance or at the door.