Will County Sheriff's Race: Jackie's Pub Donates To Kelley Campaign

JOLIET, IL — When it comes to Will County politics, having a huge campaign war chest does not always guarantee an easy victory on Election Day. Just ask soon-to-be former Joliet State Senator Eric Mattson.

After March 31, the Joliet Fire Department captain amassed a whopping $800,672 in campaign donations for his Friends for Eric Mattson Committee. The Democrat state senator for the 43rd District was hoping to win his primary challenge after being appointed to replace John Connor.

But Will County Board member Rachel Ventura had different plans even though she had only $37,452 on hand, according to the Illinois Sunshine political campaign database.

On June 28, Mattson captured 5,117 votes. Ventura got 6,621 votes. According to unofficial vote totals, Mattson ended up with 43.5 percent of the vote in the Democrat primary.

Ventura, the primary winner, got 56.3 percent of the Democrat vote. In November, she will face Republican Joliet businesswoman Diane Harris.

"The people won last night," Ventura wrote Joliet Patch after her victory. "We won against big money and the machine. The voters of the 43rd District saw through the lies, the spin and the endless, false negative attacks, the darkness spread by deep-pocketed special interests, and I am incredibly grateful to the voters, my volunteers, and supporters ..."

Will big money impact the outcome of the Will County Sheriff's race?

That remains to be seen. The general election is Nov. 8.

At the end of March, Citizens to Elect Mike Kelley Will County Sheriff had raised $90,550, which was more than four times the amount of funds Reilly had at the time.

As of March 31, Reilly had raised only $22,944. On the day before the primary, Reilly got a $5,000 donation from Roger D'Orazio, bringing Reilly's campaign fund up to $27,944.

On June 28, Reilly got 39,111 votes in the Republican primary as the lone candidate. In the Democrat primary, Kelley had 34,711 votes as the only candidate.

Reilly had 4,400 more votes than Kelley, who is asking the voters to grant him a third four-year term as Will County's sheriff. According to the unofficial totals, Reilly got 5,189 more votes in his June 28 GOP primary than in his 2018 primary, when he ran against Kelley.

Kelley had 13,234 fewer votes in the June 28 Democrat primary than in his 2018 primary.

With the general election four months away, here's a closer look at the top political campaign donors during the past year to Reilly and Kelley in the Will County Sheriff's race, according to the Illinois Sunshine database:

For Reilly:

• Roger D'Orazio $5,000
• Dibble Trucking $1,000
• Wood Street Cabinet $500
• Kevin Van Eekeren $5,000
• Patricia Aitchson $500
• Narvick Brothers Lumber Co. $500
• Thomas Cosgrove $800
• Kozol Bros. $500
• Bob's Advanced Auto & Tire $1,000
• Barrett Hardware $1,000
• Elizabeth Bishop $540
• John Cosgrove $700
• D'Arcy Buick GMS $1,500

• ACE Endeavors $1,000
• Austin Tyler Construction $1,000
• James Adamek $700
• Friends to Elect Ken Briley $600
• Midwest Electrical $500
• Plus One AV $500
• Tyler Lift Services $500

For Sheriff Kelley:

• Kozol Bros. $10,000

• D'Arcy Hyundai $1,500
• I.U.O.E. Local 150 $5,000
• AFT Local 604 $2,500
• Construction & General Laborer's District $2,500
• D Construction $2,500
• Fredrick Moore $1,000
• Terry D'Arcy $1,000
• Jackie's Pub $1,000

• Carma Industries $1,000
• O'Hare Towing $1,000
• IBEW Pac Voluntary Fund $1,000
• Sprinkler Fitters Local 281 $1,000
• 5 Star Protection Group $640

Kelley received 22 $500 donations during the past year including the following: includes the following:

• Concrete By Wagner
• P.T. Ferro
• Dan Jungles, chief deputy sheriff
• Brian Conser, undersheriff
• Jeremy Viduna, chief deputy sheriff
• Mark Kedziora, chief deputy sheriff
• Bill Aeschliman, Joliet area business owner
• Dwayne Weis, retired Joliet police detective

Related Joliet Patch coverage: Sheriff Kelley's Re-Election Faces Serious Trouble