A Friend of McHenry County Blog is fascinated by former Illinois State Senator and congressional candidate’s quest to replace Congressman Bryon Donalds, who is the Trump-endorsed candidate to replace Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
This is the result:
Over 99% of Jim Oberweis campaign funds came from Jim Oberweis
Milk magnate [and mutual fund owner] Jim Oberweis, who moved from northern Illinois to southwest Florida and is running for congress there, raised an astounding $2,013,625 in the first quarter.
2 million came from a loan to himself which represents over 99% of his campaign funds.
Screenshot from FEC.gov
Of the remaining $13,625, some of that money also came from his family.
If you subtract the loan, he didn’t have a great quarter — however, it doesn’t work like that. The 2 million is there and he gets to spend it. But it does point to a possible lack of enthusiasm for his candidacy.
None of the people running in FL 19 came close to his numbers so even if he is not exciting people, an alternative would need money to get their message out. That is where Oberweis has a major advantage.
The district is considered pretty safe for Republicans, so his big test (theoretically) will be in the primary.
One advantage of starting with such a large sum of money is that it may scare away potential competitors.
He spent zero dollars and 99 cents which I don’t quite understand.
Another screenshot from FEC.gov
Other Illinois transplants who might run for congress in FL 19 include Catalina Lauf and Jack Lombardi.
Lauf has been taking shots at Oberweis lately. She is still mad about losing a primary to him over 5 years ago.
Lombardi admitted in February he was exploring a bid for congress in FL 19.
= = = = =
Oberweis may have kicked off his Florida congressional campaign at the Cape Coral Republican Club the last week of March.
He told of his being a businessman and his service in the Illinois Senate for two terms, plus summarized his conservative positions.
With regard to his close congressional race against Lauren Underwood in 2020, he explained that there were 20,000 ballots without judges’ initials, which should have been disqualified, but with the Democrats in control of Congress, they were not considered.
At the new member conference, which he was allowed to attend, Oberweis explained that he met Donalds.
Not winning in 2020, he moved his residency to the condo his wife had lived in as a Florida resident and registered to vote there.
He said he hosted a fundraiser for Donalds that raised more than $100,000.
