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Politics & Government

Hayes Tops State's Attorney Money Race, Kennedy Leads Democrats

With Drury out of the picture, Hayes has more cash on hand than everyone else combined.

Scott Drury’s departure from the race to succeed retiring to run for the Illinois General Assembly leaves Lake Bluff resident with more money in the bank than the rest of the field combined. 

Drury dropped out of the campaign for the Democratic nomination on Oct. 25 in an effort to replace state Rep. Karen May (D-Highland Park), who is retiring at the end of her term. 

That leaves Libertyville resident and Lake Forest attorney competing with Assistant Lake County State’s Attorney of Waukegan and Mundelein attorney Karen Williams for the Democratic nomination. 

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Hayes, an assistant Lake County State’s Attorney, is one of three candidates seeking the Republican nomination in the March 20 primary along with Waukegan lawyer and Lake Barrington resident and Mike Nerheim, a Waukegan attorney who lives in Gurnee. 

All three Republicans have made substantial loans to their campaigns, according to reports filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections. Hayes has also raised significant cash. 

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Hayes collected $81,298, loaned her effort $25,000 and received an equal loan from family members to give her $112,647.81 cash on hand as of Sept. 30, according to her report to the Illinois State Board of Elections. The remaining candidates have a combined $98,614.41 in the bank. 

“I put it in as seed money early to jump start my campaign,” Hayes explained her reason for the loan. “Over 190 people contributed which is substantial. I feel really good. We exceeded our expectations.” 

Winter, who raised $20,000 and loaned himself the same amount, is also happy with his efforts. He had $27,357.58 on hand as of Sept. 30, according to his report filed with the Board. He too believes the effort is on target. 

“My campaign will have substantial resources to inform the voters of my experience and qualifications for the office,” Winter said. “We will raise an appropriate amount for the campaign.” 

Nerheim, who did not return calls to Patch for comment, raised $25,875, loaned his campaign $40,000 and has $36,400.09 on hand after spending $29,475.08, according to his report with the Board. 

Kennedy had nothing but good wishes for Drury when learning of the former assistant U.S. attorney’s decision to run for the state legislature. “Scott will be an excellent state representative,” Kennedy said. “I wish him the best.” 

With Drury’s departure, Kennedy now has a commanding financial advantage over Mathews. Drury had raised $23,655 and loaned his campaign $88,500 to give him $112,155 in the bank as of Sept. 30, according to his report to the Board. That money is available for his General Assembly campaign. 

“I’m very pleased with our results,” Kennedy said of his fund-raising effort. “Over 130 individuals made donations. We expect more to come in.” 

Kennedy raised $42,609.98 and now has $30,100.44 cash on hand, according to his report to the Board. Mathews raised $3,925 with $4,756.80 in the bank. While Drury and the three Republicans made loans to themselves, none of the Democrats did. 

Williams has yet to file any reports with the Board. Neither Mathews nor Williams returned calls to Patch for comments.

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