Bob Sheehan for State Senate
37th District, Illinois
November 2, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RISINGER BIG SUPPORTER OF GEORGE RYAN
Despite insincere claims of support for campaign reform
Public records available from the Illinois State Board of Elections indicate that State Senator Dale Risinger was a generous campaign contributor to convicted former Governor George Ryan and was richly rewarded after he made those payments.
According to official records, Dale Risinger made an individual contribution of $2,500 to Citizens for George Ryan on June 5, 2000. On June 25, 2001, Risinger contributed another $3,000 to the same campaign committee of the corrupt Governor.
Afterwards, in 2002, when Risinger was selected as the Republican candidate for State Senate, he was richly rewarded for those sizable contributions to Ryan, the de facto head of the state Republican Party.
Risinger was the beneficiary of over half a million dollars in cash and in-kind donations from the Republican State Senate Campaign Committee. That group is listed as giving Risinger $514,795 for his 2002 race. Without those gifts, it’s doubtful Risinger could have won the very close race against the popular Knox County State’s Attorney Paul Mangieri.
In addition to money from the Republican Party directly, Risinger was also the beneficiary of thousands of dollars from other state Republican officials who served with and owed their careers to George Ryan.
During this election cycle, Risinger has shown that he’s still in the pocket of the powerful; this time it’s the utility companies — the same ones who are proposing rate increased of as much as 55 percent. Risinger reports receiving over $12,350 in utility company gifts in 2006 from firms including Ameren, Dynegy, MidAmerican Energy, ComEd and others.
Bob Sheehan, the former Mayor of Galesburg and Democratic candidate for State Senate, says he will not be beholden to any group or contributor. “The supporters of my campaign are individuals who are not looking for favors in return. I have not even made any commitments of any kind to the Democratic Party Senate leadership. I am my own man.”
Bob Sheehan
Candidate for Illinois State Senate
P.O. Box 1021, Galesburg, IL 61402-1021
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