Congressional candidate 'delinquent' on taxes in another state

CHICAGO — A former Illinois businessman who claims to be financing his own campaign to unseat a longtime Oklahoma Republican in Congress was not current with his Cook County property tax payments on a home he owns in southwest suburban Lemont until he was asked questions about it by WGN, records show.

Paul Bondar on Monday remained "delinquent" in paying the nearly $15,000 that was due March 1 as a first installment on 2023 property taxes for a home he owns on Stone Creek Drive, according to the Cook County Treasurer's Office. WGN first viewed the records and verified the delinquency on May 21. A notice on the treasurer's site says payments can take three days to appear on the portal.

In a phone call with WGN, Bondar refuted the existence of the balance more than 90 days past due.

"If there is one, it's an oversight," he said, adding that he had no problem taking care of a $15,000 tab. "Paul Bondar pays his bills."

The Cook County Treasurer's Office portal indicates a payment was made following Bondar's conversation with WGN.

Bondar is running to unseat incumbent Rep. Tom Cole in the Republican primary for Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District. Bondar is licensed to sell insurance in Illinois, recently voted in Texas, and is currently facing questions about his residency. .

The outstanding tax balance was mentioned in an early May ad from Cole's campaign, prompting Bondar to blast it as an "outright falsehood" in a response letter.

"I assure you and anyone else reading this letter that all of my taxes are paid and up to date," Bondar wrote in the undated missive published May 10 by the website Slingshot News. "I believe you are making issue over a $6,000 property tax balance that was open temporarily as a property being sold where taxes are paid at closing. Painting a story of anything else is categorically false."

Indeed, the home shown in Cole's ad, a six-bedroom, four-bath property of more than 6,300 square feet on Ravine Drive, was recently sold on May 9, online listings show. Records further show that a tax bill of $6,915.15 plus interest was paid one day after ownership transferred and the same day of Slingshot News' published letter.

But Bondar's home on Stone Creek Drive carried the outstanding tax bill. And while his 2022 property tax bill on that property has since been fully satisfied, the first installment was paid more than two months late, the records show.

In his letter to Cole, Bondar said he'd "chosen to finance my own campaign for Congress" and has publicly said he anticipated spending "seven figures" on it. An analysis of FCC political ad files for stations in the Oklahoma City and Lawton/Wichita Falls television markets showed Bondar spent a little less than $340,000 on local TV ads through the middle of May.

Oklahoma’s Republican Primary election is Tuesday, June 18.