Chicago City Wire

A politically influential Democratic action committee has been fined $99,500 for neglecting to promptly report spending that aided in the successful election of two Illinois Supreme Court justices, as per Illinois Board of Elections. This information was disclosed through public records and news media. The implicated political action committee, All For Justice, was funded with a hefty $500,000 donation from one of Illinois Senate President Don Harmon's political coffers. Luke Casson serves as the chairman and treasurer for the All For Justice fund, in addition to his role as an attorney for Harmon.

"Illinois Senate President Don Harmon insists that "everybody is supposed to follow the rules".

In more specific terms,the state elections board imposed this fine on All For Justice after finding that it had failed on 35 separate occasions to appropriately report millions in spending. These funds were directed towards supporting the election campaigns of Democratic Party Justices Elizabeth Rochford and Mary Kay O’Brien ahead of the November 2022 election.

Furthermore,The Tribune revealed that All For Justice received notice about these fines on August 3rd and was given 30 days within which they could contest the election board ruling. On Aug. 31st, all remaining money in the All For Justice war chest - amounting to $149,516 - was transferred into a different PAC named Chicago Independent Alliance. This organization had remained inactive since its last operations in 2019.

To clarify,Casson assured The Tribune that moving campaign cash over to Chicago Independent Alliance was not a strategy designed to sidestep paying their outstanding election board fines - something that is addressed by state law.

State laws dictate that if a PAC moves or loans cash to another political committee while still owing fines to the elections board, then the PAC officers can be held personally responsible for paying those fines.

It's crucial to note, that as per state records, Luke Casson is the only officer currently listed as representing All For Justice.