CHICAGO – On a day when Speaker Mike Madigan is once again in hot water due to allegations of sexual misbehavior among his campaign staffers (SEE HERE) – a simple clerical error mistakenly seemed to tie Liberty Principles PAC and its originator Dan Proft to a $12k mailing supporting Madigan.
Along with over $400,000 other expenditures on behalf of Liberty Principles PAC-backed candidates, the report mistakenly says a mailing Proft made in Madigan's 22nd District was on behalf of Madigan, causing a bit of an uproar among Illinois political insiders Monday afternoon.
And one that Rauner's campaign could easily – albeit deceitfully – use to mislead voters into thinking Ives' associate Proft is working behind the scenes to assist the Democratic Party Chairman.
It was a clerical error that has since been corrected or is in the process of so being, Proft told Illinois Review.
"RHA Marketing is a direct mail fundraising firm I use. A clerical person who works for my election attorney (and doesn't know IL politics) made a data entry mistake because the direct mail fundraising letter in question mentioned Mike Madigan–as in winning the 9 seats we need in the House to depose Mike Madigan as Speaker–so she thought it was on his behalf," he explained.
"No mailing was sent out on behalf of Mike Madigan. Again, in fact, it was a letter to raise money for my PAC for the explicit purpose of defeating Mike Madigan-backed House candidates and removing him as Speaker. It was an innocent, clerical error. That's all," Proft said in an email.
The Illinois State Board of Elections report that grabbed attention of Illinois politicos showed:
At the same time, Governor Rauner is running ads dubbing his primary opponent Jeanne Ives as "Madigan's favorite Republican." Proft has been featured at several fundraisers for Ives and has reportedly been serving as a campaign advisor.
He has also been a longtime vocal critic on his radio show of Speaker Madigan – seeing Madigan's defeat as the only way to direct the state out of its financial crisis.
