Chicago Tribune

Democratic PAC shifts cash out of its account as it gets hit with one of the biggest state election board fines ever

Illinois State Board of Elections members, from left, including Rick Terven Sr., Jack Vrett, Vice Chair Laura Donahue, Catherine McCrory, Cristina Cray and Jennifer Ballard Croft meet on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, in Chicago.

A political committee that helped expand the Democratic majority on the Illinois Supreme Court and was backed by Illinois Senate President Don Harmon emptied its bank account just weeks after being notified it faced one of the largest state election fines ever for failing to timely disclose millions of dollars it spent until after last November’s election.

On Tuesday, the State Board of Elections issued a final order assessing $99,500 in fines against the All for Justice political action committee. The action followed a Tribune story earlier this year detailing the PAC’s reporting deficiencies as it spent more than $7.3 million on independent expenditures supporting Democratic Justices Elizabeth Rochford and Mary Kay O’Brien, both of whom won their campaigns and increased the court’s Democratic majority to 5-2 from a previous 4-3 advantage.

All for Justice was notified Aug. 3 by the state elections board it would be fined for 35 specific violations of failing to timely disclose to

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