Friday, McHenry County Blog printed a hit piece against 14th Republican Congressional District candidate Jim Oberweis.
It was sent by the SuperPac run by former Illinois Manufacturing Association Greg Baise, the New Prosperity Foundation.
This SuperPac has never spent money against a Republican before, but it spent $31,103 to go after Oberweis, as you can see from what OpenSecrets.org has posted, which is below:
| Candidate | State | Party | Office | Total | For | Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oberweis, Jim | IL | R | House | $35,103 | $0 | $35,103 |
The question is, “Why?”
Perhaps the following contributions help provide the answer:
| Contrib | Occupation | Date | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAZZA, THOMAS WHEATON, IL 60189 | Finance | 07/30/19 | $100,000 |
| MAZZA, THOMAS WHEATON, IL 60189 | Finance | 12/16/19 | $50,000 |
Where else has the name Mazza shown up on Federal Election Commission reports?
| Contributor name | Recipient | State | Employer | Receipt date | Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAZZA, THOMAS | NEW PROSPERITY FOUNDATION; THE | IL | SELF EMPLOYED | 12/16/2019 | $50,000.00 | |
| MAZZA, THOMAS | NEW PROSPERITY FOUNDATION; THE | IL | SELF EMPLOYED | 07/30/2019 | $100,000.00 | |
| MAZZA, SUSAN J. | GRADEL FOR CONGRESS | IL | NONE | 05/06/2019 | $2,800.00 | |
| MAZZA, THOMAS A. | GRADEL FOR CONGRESS | IL | SELF EMPLOYED | 05/06/2019 | $2,800.00 | |
| MAZZA, SUSAN J. | GRADEL FOR CONGRESS | IL | NONE | 05/06/2019 | $2,800.00 | |
| MAZZA, THOMAS A. | GRADEL FOR CONGRESS | IL | SELF EMPLOYED | 05/06/2019 | $2,800.00 | |
| MAZZA, JOHN | GRADEL FOR CONGRESS | IL | 04/30/2019 | $250.00 |
Following the money can be helpful.
= = = = =
Capitol Fax picked up on the story. A commenter added the following:
“Tom Mazza is Ted Gradel’s boss at Metolius Capital.”
We’re inside 40 days until the primary, and Ted Gradel is polling 2%. If he hopes to win next month, he needs to be making his move. He needs to be on TV with commercials, too.
It’s Jim Oberweis’ nomination to lose and only Gradel or Sue Rezin have the resources to stop him.
Huh… I was wrong.
Also, as someone on CapFax pointed out, Thomas Mazza is Gradel’s boss at Metolius Capital. I’m sure they’re not coordinating at all!
I would say $150,000 in mailers is not enough to get Gradel over the hump but that exact amount was enough to get Casten over the hump in his primary in 2018. The problem is no one in that primary had the name ID that Oberweis has. The football schtick is just awful I don’t understand why they think this would work. We will see if the needle moves but Oberweis really can’t get complacent he needs to focus on the Primary or else his political career will be over sooner than later.
It is too easy to rustle Oberweis’s feathers.
He’s too thin-skinned for politics and will probably go buy his team more MIGA hats.
McHenry County Blog x Capitol Fax was the most ambitious crossover event since Freddy vs Jason.
I wonder if Gradel didn’t give Mazza the dough.
Flaming FLamont, Ro-scam was a pathetic incumbent
Just more corruption to see.
Let them cancel each other out.
I’m voting for James Marter, the only true Conservative in this race.
He will join the Freedom Caucus and is someone I can totally trust to help our President in the Swamp.
We need to stop sending more Swamp Creatures to DC.