# Fundraising spikes in the 30 days before Chicago City Council votes: every alderperson has had one. What they show *Every Chicago alderperson raised at least twice their usual pace in the 30 days before a Council meeting this term. What that does and doesn't show.* By Chicago Politics · Updated Oct 17, 2026 **What this is, and what it isn't.** We compared what each alderperson raised in the 30 days before each City Council meeting with what they usually raise in 30 days. A month with much more money than usual, ending on a meeting day, is a fundraising spike before a vote. It is not evidence that the money was tied to any vote, and nothing in this story suggests it was. The Council meets about monthly, so almost any 30-day window ends near a meeting; a spike can come from an event, a loan, a transfer or the election calendar. With that caveat, the record is clear on one point: every one of Chicago's 50 alderpersons has had at least one such spike this term, according to Illinois State Board of Elections records. And Council-wide fundraising has climbed as the Feb. 23, 2027 election approaches. ## How we measured it - **Usual pace:** the member's itemized contributions ($150 and up) since May 15, 2023, divided by the days in the term, times 30. - **The window:** contributions received in the 30 days up to and including the day of each City Council meeting this term. - **A spike:** at least $5,000, and at least twice the member's usual pace. - Our data keeps each member's eight largest spikes, by multiple. Thirty-three members have eight, so the counts below are a floor, not a full count. - Windows for meetings a few days apart overlap and count the same money twice. - Contributions include candidates' own contributions and loans, and transfers from other political committees. The script, `tools/on-my-block/stories/s8_spikes.py`, recomputes every figure from the per-member files our money pipeline publishes. ## The Council-wide picture Fundraising has climbed as the election nears. Committees tied to the current 50 members reported $1.13 million in receipts in the last quarter of 2023 and $1.44 million in the last quarter of 2024. In 2025 the quarterly total rose from $1.39 million in the first quarter to $2.61 million in the fourth. In the first quarter of 2026 it reached $3.43 million, then $3.37 million in the second quarter and $2.65 million in the third. Chart: Itemized contributions to the current 50 alderpersons, by month (contributions; groupBy=date&measure=sum:amount) The spikes follow the same curve: 62 of the recorded spikes come before meetings in 2023, 70 in 2024, 132 in 2025 and 95 so far in 2026. ## Which meetings drew the most? Counting the members whose recorded spikes ended at a given meeting: - **July 15, 2026:** 22 members, $1,409,358.28 raised in their 30-day windows; four divided roll calls that day. - **March 18, 2026:** 13 members, $1,769,649.83; eight divided roll calls. - **April 16, 2025:** 13 members, $658,661.19. - **April 7, 2025:** 12 members, $641,060.19. - **July 16, 2025, March 20, 2024 and April 15, 2026:** 11 members each. Five of these seven windows include the last day of a quarterly reporting period; the State's quarterly reports close on March 31, June 30, Sept. 30 and Dec. 31. ## The largest spikes By dollars: - **Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward)** raised $1,410,177.68 in the 30 days before the March 18, 2026 meeting, 12.3 times his usual pace of $114,987.72. His committee reported $2,018,385.13 in receipts for the first quarter of 2026; its cash on hand went from $1,270,565.06 at the end of 2025 to $184,576 at the end of March 2026. - **Ald. William Conway (34th Ward)** raised $500,000 in the 30 days before July 15, 2026, 11.2 times his usual pace. The money is a $500,000 loan from Conway to his own committee, recorded June 30, 2026. By multiple of the member's usual pace: - **Ald. Gregory Mitchell (7th Ward):** $40,800 before Jan. 15, 2025, 18.9 times his usual $2,158.37. - **Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd Ward):** $150,001 before the Sept. 23 and Sept. 29, 2026 meetings, 18.6 times her usual pace. It is a $100,001 loan from an individual, recorded Sept. 8, and a $50,000 individual contribution recorded Sept. 18. - **Ald. Marty Quinn (13th Ward):** $137,000 before July 19, 2023, 18.3 times his usual pace. - **Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward):** $116,150 before July 15, 2026, 17.0 times his usual pace. Contributions recorded June 30 include $14,600 from J & J Ventures Gaming LLC, $10,000 from CL Pub & Grill LLC, $7,300 from Raffin Construction Co. and $5,000 from Imperial Group Enterprise LLC. ## What the numbers can't tell you A spike says when money arrived, not why. For 285 of the 359 recorded spikes, the meeting at the end of the window had at least one divided roll call; for the other 74, every final vote that day was unanimous or there was none. This analysis doesn't link any contribution to any item. For that, see our separate count of money from interests tied to specific legislation. ## What it means on your block Your alderperson's quarterly fundraising, cash on hand and biggest donors are on their ward page under Money, and the Council-wide view is on our [Money page](/money). All of it comes from reports filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections, which publishes them. On the map: [42nd Ward](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/42), [34th Ward](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/34), [23rd Ward](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/23), [9th Ward](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/9), [7th Ward](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/7), [13th Ward](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/13) --- Source: https://www.chicagopolitics.org/on-my-block/chicago-alderpersons-fundraising-spikes-30-days-before-council-votes · Chicago Politics, an independent tracker of the Chicago City Council. Guide for agents: https://www.chicagopolitics.org/llms.txt