Frustrated Illinois congressional candidates call super PAC influence 'buying a seat'
Super PACs benefitting cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and Israel are actively working to influence Illinois congressional races — and candidates in four already competitive and crowded districts aren’t happy.
They’re likening the super PAC support to buying a seat and dark money bombardment. Others are accusing Democrats of being beholden to interests that will benefit President Donald Trump’s administration — a clearly unpopular issue for Democrats in a primary.
“It seems like easy pickings for the types of giant corporate interest that wants to come in and spend,” said Reed Showalter, a candidate in the 7th Congressional District. “A few million dollars to buy a seat in Congress is a good deal. And for the rest of everybody who’s playing a grassroots game, that is a very damaging thing.”
Showalter is one of several candidates speaking out about the influence of super PACs in this primary cycle — in an unprecedented year with four open congressional seats and a Senate seat open in Illinois.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee — the powerful pro-Israel organization — is playing a role in four congressional races in Illinois — helping to boost Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller in the 2nd; former U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean in the 8th; state Sen. Laura Fine in the 9th; and Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears Ervin in the 7th. United Democracy Project, AIPAC’s affiliated super PAC, has spent more than $753,000 directly to support Conyears Ervin.
The 2nd District is especially hit hard by super PAC influence, with Fairshake, a pro-crypto PAC funded primarily by Trump megadonors and business partners Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, targeting State Sen. Robert Peters. Fairshake is spending at least $1 million to run anti-Peters ads. And it’s the third Trump-affiliated super PAC to play a role in the race.
Andreessen is the founder and general partner of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz — and a Trump adviser on tech and business policy — and he gave more than $4.7 million to advance the MAGA agenda in the 2023 and 2024 electoral cycle.
Affordable Chicago Now!, which is AIPAC-affiliated, is spending money in support of Miller, while the Leading the Future PAC, funded by OpenAI stakeholders, is backing former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. in the race.
Peters’ campaign says Fairshake is targeting him because he voted for crypto state legislation that imposed new rules on digital asset firms. Peters co-sponsored the measure.
“I think any time big right wing billionaire donors come into a race, it’s like a jolt,” Peters said.
Peters said all three entities “are scared of having an effective progressive champion in this seat.”
“There’s a whole group of really corrupt billionaires who have really close attachment to the Trump administration, who want people who are going to be soft on their issues, and so that means people who are going to be OK with unconditional military aid in [Israel Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s war machine," Peters said. "That means people who are going to be OK with the advancement of AI slop and the increase in utility rates. That means people who are OK with the corrupt practices of the crypto bros who have been literally benefiting from the Trump administration and I believe have played a role in Trump’s ability to gain more wealth.”
Junaid Ahmed, a candidate in the 8th Congressional District, is a progressive endorsed by the Sunrise Movement, who is also railing against the influence of super PACs. He’s frustrated that mailers call Bean an “architect of Obamacare,” and reference a 2010 Chicago Tribune article about her role in Obamacare — though in reality the article discusses how she had not made a decision to sign the measure. Bean ultimately did support Obamacare.
“That’s the part that dark money is doing here. When a voter sees that kind of bombardment, the shouting from the rooftops, that’s a direct impact,” Ahmed said. “And they’re able to by making ads on any topic that polls well — don’t even bring the word AI, don’t even bring the word AIPAC — just focus on what’s polling well and then bombard the voters, and then buy our races.”
Showalter, a former attorney for the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Justice Department counsel, believes publicly funding elections — and ending Citizens United — would make a huge difference in deflating the power of special interests. He credited New York City's program, in which candidates receive public funding that partially matches what they raise, for helping Zohran Mamdani win the mayoral seat.
"You have a matching program where you raise up to a million dollars and it's matched eight-to-one," Showalter said. "That makes a big difference for people who are candidates who are running in a grassroots publicly supported way, so that you don't have to rely on the millions and millions of dollars that can frankly only be deployed by giant corporate interests."