Illinois Attorney General Candidates File 4th Quarter Numbers

The crowded field of candidates vying to replace Attorney General Lisa Madigan reported their most recent fundraising numbers ahead of this week's deadline. Eight Democrats and two Republicans are running for the office. The array of aspirants includes, several former federal prosecutors and state lawmakers, two current or former mayors, a former governor and a former Miss America, among others.

According to fillings with the Illinois State Board of Elections by candidate committees, the 10 candidates collected more than $3.8 million in combined contributions in the final quarter of 2017, including personal loans and transfers from political committees.

Here are the candidates and information from their most recent fundraising results, presented in alphabetical order:

Scott Drury, 45, is the second-term Democratic state representative for the North Shore's 58th District. He is a former federal prosecutor who dropped out of the race for governor last year when Madigan announced she would not seek reelection.

Drury's campaign took in $506,834.30 last quarter, including $295,000 in personal loans from the candidate and his father. The committee spent $72,104.45 and had nearly $732,000 in available funds.

Sharon Fairley, 57, is the former head of Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the Chicago police oversight agency formerly known as the Independent Police Review Authority. A Democrat, she is a former federal prosecutor appointed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to reform the organization following the release of the video of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald that led to murder charges for Officer Jason Van Dyke.

Fairley's campaign raised $495,120.43 in the fourth quarter of 2017, including $300,000 in loans from the candidate. The committee spent $107,279.96 and had nearly $388,000 available in cash on hand.

Aaron Goldstein, 42, is a criminal defense attorney and the 33rd Ward Democratic Committeeman. He represented former Gov. Rod Blagojevich in two of his trials and defeated Blagojevich's father-in-law Dick Mell for the post in the Northwest Side ward.

Goldstein's campaign raised $203,175 last quarter, including $185,000 in loans from the candidate. The committee spent less than $30,000 and had nearly $207,000 in funds available.

Gary Grasso, 66, is a Republican DuPage County Board member and the former mayor of Burr Ridge. He has been an attorney in Northern Illinois for almost 40 years and cites crises with pensions, corruption and opioids as his top priorities.

Grasso's campaign raised $140,793.82 last quarter, including $32,693.82 in loans from the candidate. The committee spent $116,300 and had under $25,000 in cash on hand at the end of the year.

Erika Harold, 37, is an attorney, former congressional candidate and former Miss America. She ran against Rep. Rodney Davis in the 2014 Republican primary for the 13th Congressional District. She was selected as Miss Illinois in 2002, Miss America in 2003 and as a speaker at the Republican National Convention in 2004.

Harold's campaign raised nearly $135,000 last quarter, with no loans and just over $17,000 in transfers from PACs and other committees. The committee spent $65,205.38 and had more than $162,000 in hand to end the year.

Renato Mariotti, 41, is a former federal prosecutor and a frequent critic of the administration of President Donald Trump on social media and television. His run for attorney general is his first bid for elected office.

Mariotti's campaign raised more than $345,000 last quarter, including $12,306.45 in loans from the candidate. The committee spent $146,426.52 and had less than $199,000 in available cash to end the year.

Kwame Raoul, 53, is a Democratic state senator representing Hyde Park in Chicago. He was appointed in 2004 to replace Barack Obama upon his election to the U.S. Senate. He has received extensive contributions and endorsements from unions and party leaders.

Raoul's campaign raised $781,825.62 in the fourth quarter of 2017, including nearly $433,000 in transfers from PACs and political committees. The largest single transfers came from the IUOE Local 399 Political Education Fund ($54,400), Construction and General Laborers ($52,400) and Citizens for [Senate President] John Cullerton ($45,000). Raoul's committee spent less than $109,000 and had $1,079,334.95 cash on hand, the most of any candidate.

Nancy Rotering, 56, is the mayor of Highland Park and the founder of the Highland Park-Highwood Legal Aid Clinic. She ran unsuccessfully in the 2016 Democratic primary for the 10th Congressional District, losing narrowly to Rep. Brad Schneider.

Rotering's campaign raised $631,498 in the last quarter, including $178,000 in loans from the candidate. Her committee spent over $59,000 and had $574,383.59 on hand to end the reporting period.

Jesse Ruiz, 52, is an attorney and the appointed president of the Board of Commissioners of the Chicago Park District. The Democrat has previously served as vice president of the Chicago Board of Education, the chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education and the president of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois.

Ruiz's campaign raised nearly $550,000 in the fourth quarter of 2017, including a $100,000 loan from the candidate. His committee reported that it spent $194,079.19 and had $335,147.03 on hand at the end of the year.

Pat Quinn, 69, is the former governor and lieutenant governor of Illinois. He took over following imprisoned ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich's impeachment in January 2009. The next year he narrowly defeated Republican candidate Bill Brady by less than 1 percent. As the Democratic incumbent in 2014, Quinn was defeated by Gov. Bruce Rauner by almost four percentage points.

Quinn's campaign raised more than $79,000 last quarter, with $55,400 of it coming from a transfer from the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters PAC. His committee spent almost $32,500 and reported $278,714.04 in available funds at the end of 2017.