IL-11: Mark Carroll Files FEC Report Through June 30

Mark Carroll

With donations void of State Central Committeeperson Laura Pollastrini, state Representatives Jeff Keicher and Keith Wheeler and many other endorsers, Carroll reports raising little over $47K for 3rd place finish

North Aurora Village Trustee Laura Curtis, Naperville Township Republican Organization Chair Tonia Khouri and former McHenry County Republican Party Chair Diane Evertsen contributed to Carroll’s campaign

North Aurora Village Trustee Mark Carroll, who finished 3rd in the Republican primary for the 11th Congressional District on June 28, filed his 2nd quarter Federal Election Commission (FEC) campaign disclosure report which revealed the grand total Carroll’s campaign raised was $47,408, and spent $47,172 in his bid to challenge Congressman Bill Foster (D, Naperville). Carroll reported only $235 in cash-on-hand through June 30.

Laura Curtis

Carroll’s colleague on the North Aurora Village Board, Laura Curtis (R, 2020 nominee for state representative, 49th District) who endorsed Carroll early, donated $2,700 (maximum $2,900) from her campaign account used in her Illinois campaigns.

Naperville Township Republican Organization Chair, and former DuPage County Board Member Tonia Khouri (who lost to Foster in 2016 and lost her bid for the open 49th Representative District seat in 2018) donated $1,000 to Carroll’s campaign.

Former McHenry County Republican Party Chair Diane Evertsen (R, Hartland), who did not endorse Carroll, gave $250 to Carroll’s congressional campaign.

Missing from the itemized donations for Carroll’s campaign (minimum $200 for election cycle to be an itemized contributor on an FEC filing) were the following high profile endorsers of Carroll’s campaign:

  • IL-14 State Central Committeeperson (redistricted into IL-11) Laura Pollastrini (R, Hampshire)
  • State Representative Jeff Keicher (R, Sycamore)
  • State Representative Keith Wheeler (R, Oswego)

While Pollastrini is the only one who lives in the district from the list above, if a former McHenry County Republican Party chair can donate at a level to be itemized, then the two state representatives could have done the same, especially since both were unopposed in the primary and are running for reelection in safe Republican districts.

According to the Carroll campaign, a comprehensive, month-long digital/radio media buy with banners and Facebook ads, “consistently performed 6x better than the national average.” Additionally, Carroll’s campaign had SMS (text messages) go out to Hard R’s across the entire district.

While Carroll’s campaign, along with 2nd place finisher Jerry Evans (R, Warrenville) and primary winner Catalina Lauf (R, Woodstock) had saturation of SMS and digital media buys, Carroll’s campaign did not have any hardcopy direct mailings, where Evans (including from a super PAC) had 4 mailings, and Lauf had at least 5 hardcopy mailings, with two hitting the street prior to the start of early voting.

No IL-11 Republican candidate had broadcast or cable TV ad buys.

Combined with the coalition Carroll’s campaign built with the Republican Party establishment (Pollastrini, Lake County Republicans executive commitee, Batavia and Naperville townships’ endorsements) and some conservatives including a Mar a Lago visit as the guest of IL-14 candidate Jim Marter (R, Oswego) to meet former President Trump, Carroll’s campaign could compete with Evans, who outspent Carroll by over 4-1, but could not compete with Lauf, who outspent Carroll by over 10-1 (using Lauf’s 2022 spend of $500K as a base for comparison).

From the desk of John Lopez: Definitely, Carroll’s campaign had the most efficient dollars/vote metric (from unofficial returns, around $4.79 spent/vote). While the efficiency makes an accountant happy, the result still has Carroll finishing 3rd.

For a campaign at this level for Congress, the days of saving all of one’s spending for the final three weeks prior to Election Day are over, and Lauf showed, using the Jim Oberweis (R, Sugar Grove) example set two years ago, campaign spend MUST be done prior to the start of early voting, as well as up until Election Day.

The final Carroll for Congress FEC filing can be viewed here.


Comments

IL-11: Mark Carroll Files FEC Report Through June 30 — 2 Comments

  1. Yes, and adding to your point about early voting: In Illinois, early voting starts 40 days before the official date of the election.

    People will be casting votes for the November 8th election starting on September 29th, just two and a half months from now.

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