Two-Thirds of Melissa Bean’s Contributions Since July Come from Political Action Committees

8th congressional district challenger Steve Greenberg has done the homework that writers like I should have done and discovered that two-thirds of the money that his Democratic Party opponent Melissa Bean raised has come from what he calls “special interests.”

By that he really means political action committees or PACS.

Greenberg points out in his press release that during the last quarter he has raised more from individuals, while Bean has gotten only $150,836 to $150,818.

Looking at the entire campaign cycle, Bean out raised Greenberg among citizens $1.3 million to $720,763.

Still, 54% of her $2,961,390 war chest came from PACs, while Greenberg got 79% of his $916,513 from individuals.

Comparing incumbent to incumbent, Don Manzullo received two-thirds of his money from individuals, while Bean got only 46%.

Greenberg has $45,000 on hand and a debt of $124,202.

Bean has $1,014,247 in cash and a debt of $17,800.

Greenberg’s press release follows:

Greenberg’s Q3 Support from Individuals Easily Outpaced Bean’s
2/3 of Democrat’s Support Came from Special Interests

LAKE ZURICH 10/16/08 – In the fundraising quarter running from July through September, Congressional Candidate Steve Greenberg far outpaced his opponent in contributions from individual supporters. Greenberg received $150,836 in support from individual supporters compared to only $105,818.47 for his opponent.

Bean, who is the 6th largest recipient of special interest money in Congress, received an astounding two-thirds of her support for the quarter from special interests. Bean collected $208,635 from special interest PACs in the last quarter, bringing her total from special interests this cycle to $1,619,329 and a lifetime total, in her short career, to a whopping $3,716,471. All this after rightfully attacking Phil Crane for his disgraceful special interest fundraising.

“I am so thankful for the support of the hard-working members of the community, especially as they struggle through the economic crisis,” said Greenberg. “Meanwhile, my opponent continues to show that she is interested only in representing the special interests with deep pockets. She has accepted nearly a million dollars from the financial sector in exchange for lax oversight of their lending practices, which led to the taxpayers having to bail out financial institutions.

“No matter how much money the special interests give Melissa Bean, she will never have enough money to hide from the fact that we are not better off than we were four years ago when she was elected. The 8th District deserves better. The hard-working families deserve a Representative who will be a voice for them in Washington.”

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8th district Congresswoman Melissa Bean provokes a smile from 16th district Congressman Don Manzullo at the McHenry County Economic Development Committee’s annual dinner.


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