CHICAGO — As the Illinois primary election approaches, the airwaves are being inundated with political advertisements, leaving many residents unable to escape the relentless campaigning.
Interestingly, a significant portion of these ads are not financed by the candidates themselves.
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One individual caught in this advertising storm is Illinois State Representative La Shawn Ford. Reflecting on his congressional campaign, Ford stands by his decision to support cryptocurrency regulation in Springfield, unaware of the consequences it would have during his run for Congress.
Enter FairShake, a Super PAC backed by the cryptocurrency sector.
In response to Ford’s regulatory stance, FairShake has invested nearly $2 million in an effort to thwart his bid for the 7th Congressional District. The group has launched a barrage of misleading TV and digital ads that cast Ford’s past in a negative light.
“These ads have dredged up a particularly difficult period in my life,” Ford, a Democrat, remarked.
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The ads imply Ford was convicted of bank fraud. Several years ago, federal prosecutors charged him with 17 counts of bank fraud, but all were dropped. Ford says the ads are slanderous.
“I think voters have to be sure they are not duped by this,” Ford said.
Illinois voters have been bombarded with ads paid for by Super PACs.
PACs are legally allowed to raise and spend as much money as they desire in an election, as long as they don’t coordinate their efforts with an individual candidate.
“There is kind of, you know, indirect communications, kind of fiction that these are truly independent of the campaigns. Because these campaigns, they’re willingly, kind of accepting, this type of spending,” political strategist Frank Calabrese said.
Calabrese says Super PACs are spending well over $4 millions in all four contested congressional races. He says the vast majority of money spent in the races is coming from outside of Illinois.
“It’s more than $20 million right now. So, it’s a significant amount of money,” Calabrese said. “The most money is being spent by the American Israeli Political Action Committee, which is known as APIAC.”
FairShake did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
With 12 days to go before the election, the money continues to flow.
Calabrese says when it is all said and done, Super PACs will spend between $25-30 million in Illinois.
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