By Illinois Review
The money trail behind Norine “No Show” Hammond’s decision to skip her own hometown GOP forum is now public – and the price tag is even more insulting than Republicans first imagined.
According to disclosures posted on the Illinois State Board of Elections website, Hammond collected $2,000 in campaign contributions at the banquet she chose over meeting with her own constituents.
That came after driving nearly seven hours round trip to attend a fundraiser dominated by special interests that routinely bankroll Democratic candidates.
One $1,000 check came from J&J Ventures, a major video gaming company that donates to both Republicans and Democrats. J&J Ventures has financially supported Democrat State Sen. Cristina Castro and Democrat State Rep. La Shawn Ford – both outspoken critics of Republican policy positions.
Castro’s hostility toward federal law enforcement has been explicit. In September, during federal ICE raids in her district, she went on television and had a message for U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem:
“She can go to hell. Don’t come into my community.”
A second $1,000 contribution came from the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers PAC, which is affiliated with Plumbers Local 130 – a union that heavily backed Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
That’s the full accounting of what Hammond received in exchange for skipping a GOP State Central Committee candidate forum held in her own county, where more than 120 Republican voters gathered expecting to hear directly from party leaders.
Attorney Thomas DeVore said Hammond’s absence spoke volumes about her priorities.
“As previously reported, Norine Hammond failed to attend a candidate forum in her home county of McDonough because she instead decided to drive over three hours away to a Democrat special interests fundraiser,” DeVore said. “Regardless of the amount collected, she sold out her own hometown Republicans to attend an event backed by the very interests Republicans claim to oppose.”
DeVore also pointed to a growing frustration among grassroots voters who say Hammond is rarely seen engaging Republican activists unless she can tightly control the environment.
“Additionally, the electorate is hard pressed to see Hammond out and about at Republican events in the district as she assuredly doesn’t want to address the hard issues,” DeVore said. “She will likely campaign from her basement by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to convince voters how great she is and hope she can fool them once more.”
For Illinois Republicans struggling to rebuild trust after decades of Democrat corruption and insider politics, Hammond’s actions have become a symbol of what the base is fed up with.
While volunteers and activists showed up ready to participate in the democratic process, their own Deputy Minority Leader chose a closed-door banquet with interests tied to the Madigan-era political machine.
The issue now goes far beyond one missed forum. It’s about credibility, priorities, and whether Republican leaders truly value the voters they claim to represent.
