Facing the loss of a GOP seat in the Illinois Senate after popular 33rd District incumbent Donald DeWitte announced his retirement, Illinois Republicans appear to be expending serious money, so far, behind Danielle Penman’s campaign.
However, “serious money” is a decidedly relative term when facing the flush finances and well-oiled state Democratic political organization, and major financial support from various aspects of organized labor.
DeWitte is a widely respected and influential legislator and has been a fixture in regional politics since being elected alderman in St. Charles in 1993. He would have been a prohibitive favorite to win a third term. “It just got a lot cheaper for (State Senate) President (Don) Harmon to run that race,” one commentator quipped on the Capitol Fax website after DeWitte’s retirement announcement.
With DeWitte off the ballot, the race for the open 33rd District State Senate seat between novices Penman and Democrat Michele Clark is expected to be one of the most hotly contested and expensive campaign this election cycle. Early on, the Illinois Senate Republican Campaign Committee has put six-figures behind Penman but still trail funding-wise.
Penman, a labor-and-delivery nurse, handily defeated Republican primary opponent Jessica Breugelmans of Geneva, who was supported by Senate GOP leadership. Penman has vowed to work across party lines “to lower healthcare costs, protect coverage for pre-existing conditions, safeguard access to IVF and fertility care and ensure quality healthcare remains close to home.”
Since June 30, Penman, of St. Charles, who had $8,719 on hand, has shown some significant union support. She received $54,000 in in-kind contributions from Chicago Land Operators Joint Labor-Management PAC, for polling, mailings, digital ads and texts. The campaign itself has also spent $20,000, mostly for four separate mailings and marketing.
She also received around $12,000 in larger donations, including $5,000 from DeWitte for Illinois Senate
On Sept. 8 the Illinois Senate Republican Campaign Committee deposited $150,530 in Penman’s campaign fund. The ISRCC has also paid for office rent and $11,000 for ad production and printing, and some $20,000 in salary for Anthony Esposito, who is district chief of staff for Illinois Senate Minority Leader John Curran, and John Farish, a legislative assistant with the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus.
Esposito previously worked for Richard Irvin’s campaign in 2022 and for the House Republican Organization in 2023 and 2024 before resigning.
Clark, a nonprofit executive who works in development for her local school district food pantry, ended June with $80,480 on hand, and has taken in $270,000 more, including $71,800 from IBEW Illinois PAC, $50,000 from both the ISDF and LIUNA Chicago Laborers District Council PAC and another $20,000 from Carpentry Advancement PAC.
$50,000 from Friends of Bill Cunningham and $15,000 Carpentry Advancement PAC. The ISDF has been paying the $6,700 monthly salary of Isabella Devens, a veteran Democratic campaign operative who is a full-time campaign manager and political regional organizer for the Illinois Senate Democrats. Her Linked In page says she “manages political operations in the collar counties.”
The 33rd District, which runs from Crystal Lake up north to Elburn, Geneva, and St. Charles down south, covers parts of Kane, DuPage and McHenry counties, has been trending Democratic in recent years. It went for Kamala Harris in 2024 by 2.4 percent, and since 2020 has not voted for any statewide Republican candidate winning office.
The district is split in the house with a Democrat and Republican representative.
Incumbent State Rep. Dan Ugaste, a Republican who first won office in 2018, won his 65th District House seat handily in 2024 by 11.2 percent. The 65th House district includes the far western suburbs of Chicago, including Campton Hills, Elburn, Elgin, Geneva, Lily Lake, South Elgin, St. Charles, Wayne, and West Chicago.
Democrat Suzanne Ness won her 66th District House seat by 6.4 percent in 2024. The 66th district includes all or parts of Algonquin, Carpentersville, Crystal Lake, East Dundee, Elgin, Gilberts, Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Lakewood, Sleepy Hollow, and West Dundee.
