JBT Creams Nick Palmer In Campaign Donations, So Far

JOLIET, IL — Will County Chief of Staff Nick Palmer has worked for County Executive Larry Walsh Sr. during these past 15 years and the Bolingbrook Democrat has been a faithful understudy. However, Walsh's endorsement of Palmer may not be worth a pile of beans, when the March 17 primary rolls around. That's because Palmer's arch rival, State Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant of Shorewood, has amassed a gigantic political war chest to fund her campaign.

As of September 18, The Committee to Elect Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant had $408,691 in cash on hand. Of that total, $74,830 has been raised since July 1. Let that sink in for a moment.

In less than seven weeks, Bertino-Tarrant just raised nearly $75,000 in campaign contributions to help her become the next Democratic Will County Executive. Walsh is finishing his fourth four-year term of office, but he will not seek re-election next year, because of his health issues.

As for The Citizens To Elect Nick Palmer, they have raised $9,000 since July 1, bringing their total sum to $9,410.

In recent days, Bertino-Tarrant's team released a 71-second campaign video in which the Joliet-area State Senator is re-branding herself as "JBT."

You can watch her new campaign video in its entirety at the bottom of this Joliet Patch article.

To recap, Bertino-Tarrant has already accumulated $408,691 in campaign contributions, which, for now, is $397,281 more than Nick Palmer has in his campaign coffers when the two square off in next March's Democrat primary.

Money does not necessarily translate into votes on Election Day, but in many high-profile political races, campaign donations, or lack thereof, play an enormous factor in the eventual outcome. Oftentimes, a candidate for a major political office, with little money to fund his or her campaign, has virtually no chance to defeat their opposition.

In Palmer's case, his campaign appears to be running as the dark horse candidate.

So where is Bertin0-Tarrant's political money coming from?

Most of her donations are from special interest groups with deep pockets, Joliet Patch found.

According to the non-profit website Illinois Sunshine, the following are some of Bertino-Tarrant's top campaign donors from recent months:

• $40,000 on Aug. 7 from the Illinois Political Action Committee for Education plus another $10,000 from IPACE on June 17.
• $20,000 on Aug. 7 from the Illinois Federal of Teachers COPE plus another $2,500 donation from the Illinois Federal of Teachers COPE on June 17.
• $5,000 on June 17 from the Iron Workers Local Union 444
• $3,330 on Aug. 3 from Waste Management
• $2,500 on June 17 from LIUNA Chicago Laborers' District Council PAC
• Separate $1,500 donations on July 31 from Illinois State Medical Society PAC and AFSCME Illinois Council 31.
• 16 separate $1,000 donations since June 17 from the following entities:

1. Illinois Pipe Trades PAC Account
2. Painters District Council #14
3. Illinois Hospital Association PAC
4. I.U.O.E. Local 399 Political Education Fund on June 28 plus another $1,000 on June 17
5. Foresight Energy Services
6. Chicago Land Operators Joint Labor-Management PAC: three $1,000 donations on July 31.
7. Illinois Trial Lawyers Association PAC
8. Special Education Administrators' PAC
9. Comcast
10. Joliet Firefighters Local 44 PAC
11. Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters
12. Fraternal Order of Police Joliet Lodge 58
13. Heat & Frost Insulators Local 17

As for Nick Palmer, the Illinois Sunshine website shows five separate campaign donations of at least $1,000 in 2019, all since August:

• $2,500 from Committee To Elect Lawrence Walsh
• $2,500 from Bill and Mercedes Palmer
• $2,000 from Friends of Terry Link
• $1,000 from Michael Alvarez
• $1,000 from The Public Response Group

If Palmer loses in the March 17 primary, the Republican challenger would face an uphill battle.

Nick Ficarello, who ran for Will County Sheriff in 2014 and recently served as the Braidwood Police Chief, has taken out a petition to run for Will County Executive as a Republican.