York Township GOP Group Fined $12K

ELMHURST, IL – A Republican group in York Township, which includes parts of Elmhurst, has amassed nearly $12,000 in fines over the last four years, state records show.

Founded in 2007, the York Township Republican Women's Org has been late eight times with its quarterly financial reports, according to the state Board of Elections website. That has resulted in $11,975 in fines.

In some instances, the organization has missed deadlines by months.

According to the board's website, Jackie Haddad of Elmhurst, who died five years ago, is listed as the GOP group's chairwoman. Joan Richardson of Lombard is listed as the treasurer. But she hasn't signed her name to a quarterly report in more than eight years – before Donald Trump announced his first campaign for president.

The group hasn't changed its leadership in a dozen years, according to the board's records.

In January, Patricia Armstrong of Villa Park filed three quarterly reports for the organization, something she has been doing for a couple of years. On her LinkedIn page, she lists herself as a York Township Republican committeewoman.

From 2015 to 2021, Hosanna Korynecki of Villa Park turned in the reports.

Patch was unable to reach Armstrong, Korynecki or Richardson.

The fines against the organization are nearly double its bank account as of Dec. 31 – $6,374.

On the board's website, the group said its purpose was "to elect Republicans."

In early 2022, the organization donated $405 to the Illinois Federation of Republican Women and spent $156 on a post office box in Villa Park.

The elections board has an incentive for candidate committees that fail to pay fines: The candidates cannot run again until they pay up.

But political committees such as the York Township group don't have such an incentive.

"What happens is that a group may want to settle these kinds of fines and make a settlement offer. Sometimes that offer can be 50 percent of what's left in the fund," Matt Dietrich, the board's spokesman, said in an interview.

After looking through the local group's records, Dietrich said, "The committee seems not to have anyone minding it."