Candidates ramp up campaign spending
A slew of TV ads pumped up Democrat Bill Foster's campaign spending to nearly $1.2 million in a month's time, according to federal reports.
Between Jan. 17 and Feb. 17, Foster spent about $837,000 on commercials alone, while his opponent in the 14th Congressional District race, Republican Jim Oberweis, used about $686,000 to run his campaign.
The two wealthy businessmen, who square off in the March 8 special general election to fill out retired Rep. Dennis Hastert's term, have combined to spend almost $4.4 million since the race for Congress began last year.
On the flip side, they've run their campaigns on close to $5 million, with about $3.5 million coming in the form of loans from the candidates themselves, the campaign finance report stated.
"I'm feeling pretty good about the money," Oberweis spokesman Bill Pascoe said Tuesday. "I think we're going to be properly funded for the rest of the campaign."
Oberweis' report filed with the Federal Election Commission shows he had about $509,000 in cash on hand as of Feb. 17. His coffers received a bump last week when GOP presidential frontrunner John McCain came to the area for a fundraiser in Sugar Grove that the campaign said raised $257,000.
Foster's bottom line is a bit thinner. His report shows about $85,000 in cash on hand and $92,000 raised since the filing period closed, but campaign officials said they aren't concerned.
"We're confident going forward we'll have the resources to compete," spokesman Tom Bowen said.
