By Illinois Review
The Richard Uihlein-funded People Who Play By The Rules PAC, in recent quarterly disclosures, reported $1.3 million cash-on-hand – but the disclosures also reveal that the PAC paid three political consultants $142,000, while spending just $3,725.56 to support conservative school board candidates over the last several months, records reveal.
The founder, president and treasurer of the PAC received the majority of the consulting fees, totaling $75,000 to Starfish Consulting LLC, while the rest went to a consulting firm owned by Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau, who was paid $26,000 through Fahrenheit Consulting Group, while $41,000 went to a consulting firm owned by Michael Koolidge (TMKS, LLC), who also serves as the PAC’s communications director and chief spokesperson.
Records also reveal that $3,725.56 was spent in support of three Lyons Township school board candidates, district 204. The money was spent on a letter that was mailed to voters and signed by the president of the PAC.
Unfortunately, the candidates did not win.
During the 2022 Illinois Republican Primary, Koolidge ran for US Congress in the 14th congressional district, and was endorsed by Jeanne Ives, who called Koolidge a “bold leader, and I have every confidence he can take on Lauren Underwood and flip this seat.”
In the 5-person race, Koolidge came in third with just 20 percent of the vote, losing the primary to Republican Scott Gryder.
Gryder would go on to lose the general election to US Rep. Lauren Underwood, D, by 6 points.
Ives is also a close confidante and senior political advisor to Pekau, and she also endorsed his campaign for Congress in January of 2022, stating, “I trust Keith Pekau. He is the best mayor in Illinois.”
Although Pekau won the primary, he would lose the general election to US Rep. Sean Casten, D, by more than 9 points.
In 2018, Ives ran for governor against Republican incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner, and Uihlein funded her campaign, donating $2.5 million.
Ives would lose the primary to Rauner, and Rauner would lose the general election to Democratic billionaire JB Pritzker.
Ives has remained a close friend and confidante of the chairman, president and treasurer of the People Who Play By The Rules PAC, and during her gubernatorial race, that individual served as her chief campaign consultant.
During the April 4th election cycle, Pritzker and the Democratic Party of Illinois spent $800,000 to support their extremist, liberal school board candidates, while at the same time, using that funding to viciously attack conservative school board candidates – every day moms and dads, who just wanted to serve their community; reverse falling test scores; and remove inappropriate sexual education curriculum and divisive concepts that only further deepen racial divides from the classrooms.
During the pandemic, school board meetings were flooded with angry parents, advocating on behalf of their children – and demanding a return to in-person learning.
In response, these parents were demonized, silenced, and they were even labeled as “domestic terrorists” by senior officials within the Biden administration.
But as it turns out, the parents were right – they were always right.
In a paper published in 2022 on the consequences of remote and hybrid learning during the pandemic, the research concluded that the shift away from classroom instruction during the pandemic, “had profound consequences for student achievement.”
School board races generated widespread attention throughout the country and in Illinois as liberal districts are promoting a sexual education curriculum that teaches young children about gender identity and hormone blockers – subjects completely inappropriate for children.
These same school districts are also teaching about critical race theory – a divisive concept that teaches about race superiority and that the United States is fundamentally a racist country, among other things. Often, it is titled “culturally, responsive teaching,” “social/restorative justice,” “equity/gender support plans” and “social emotional learning.”
In February, Gov. Pritzker went on the attack during a press conference, calling Illinois-based conservative grassroots organizations that recruit and support local school board candidates’ “racists” and “anti-LGBTQ.”
With very little funding out there to support conservative school board candidates, Pritzker and the Democratic Party of Illinois won 84 out of 117 races and the Illinois Education Association reported that they won 90 percent of their races.
The Democrats also controlled the narrative, painting conservative candidates as “extremists” – but unfortunately, there wasn’t any funding available to help them fight back against the vicious attacks and lies.
And the election results proved that.
