U.S. Rep. Glenn Poshard (D-IL) has filed papers acknowledging help from a union, but he continues to deny GOP charges that he violated campaign finance disclosure laws. The Democrat’s gubernatorial campaign filed a statement with the Illinois State Board of Elections Jun. 23 disclosing the spending of $108,000 by the AFL-CIO to run radio ads boosting Poshard near the end of the primary campaign.
The Illinois Republican Party filed a complaint with the state board charging that Poshard failed to disclose the in-kind contribution within the required 2 business days. The GOP is claiming that Poshard’s filing of the statement is an admission that he violating the law by not filing it earlier. The federation spent more than $200,000 on radio spots for Poshard in the last 2 weeks before the Mar. 17 primary.
Poshard takes pride in refusing to accept donations from corporations, political action committees and other special interests, but he caught flak from primary opponents for accepting large donations from legislative leaders’ political committees and benefiting from independent union spending. The campaign reported the first $100,000 expenditure from the AFL-CIO on Mar. 10 but failed to report the second $108,000 expenditure before election
day. [Copley News Service 06/25/98]
