Chicago City Wire

Republican state House candidate Ammie Kessem believes Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino only governs with one person in mind: himself.

“What’s interesting to me is that, once again, we have a political insider who not only feels it’s his birthright to hold a seat in public office," she told Chicago City Wire. "He apparently thinks he doesn’t have to answer to the people and more, specifically, the Illinois Board of Elections. I don’t know a single person who is involved in any organization whose responsibility it is to account for the financial records of their organization, who would think it’s okay to cash a check that was specifically given to that organization and never account for how that money was spent.”

The Illinois State Board of Elections recently voted 4-4 down partisan lines to fine Mautino’s now-defunct campaign committee for violations. The vote comes after it was uncovered that his campaign committee wrote checks totaling at least $150,000 in the name of the bank and cashed them from the committee’s checking account. Mautino’s staffers also rarely kept receipts from the transactions and no unused cash from the campaign expenditures was ever returned.

Auditor General Frank Mautino

Mautino’s campaign also spent more than $225,000 at a single service station in his legislative district for gas and repairs of vehicles owned by him, his family members and various associates. Campaign finance laws state that a campaign committee can only reimburse vehicle owners on a per-mile basis for the use of their vehicles for any campaign-related purposes.

Kessem, a Chicago police sergeant running against incumbent Rep. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago) in the 19th District, argues it’s all enough for Martwick to be shown the door in Springfield.

“Clearly he is not capable of holding such an important position,” she said. “It also proves, once again, how the Democrat party in this state operates, like a bunch of ‘connected’ thugs that think they can do whatever the heck they want.” 

Kessem also points out that Martwick has not called on Mautino to resign, which is just another example of the level of corruption in Springfield, she said.

“The fact that not one single Democrat, and especially my opponent, have not called for this man to resign is just another slap in the face to every taxpaying Illinoisan,” Kessem said. “I hope the people of this state are starting to open their eyes to the level of corruption that has plagued us for far too long and I hope the people will hold them accountable for it come November.”