Rachel Ventura Outspent 10:1 and Wins Hotly Contentious Democratic Primary in Illinois’ 43rd District (Joliet, IL) — Rachel Ventura was out-spent 12:1 and still defeated the remnants of the Madigan machine that was behind Eric Mattson’s appointment and overnight $775,000 fundraising haul that materialized over five short weeks. The $775,000 number only includes A-1’s filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections and does not include independent expenditures. A complete filing is due with the Illinois State Board by July 15th. Ventura raised $65,000 from more than 540 individual, small-dollar donors from across the nation, including one $5 donation from the North Pole, AK.

Ventura credits her upset victory to existing name recognition and a dedicated campaign team that was able to talk to voters at their doors, and then turn voters out on election day. Since Ventura was first elected in 2018, she has become a popular public servant in the Joliet area who has stood up for disenfranchised communities, spoken out against corruption and police brutality, and taken on big monied interests like the proposed NorthPoint warehouse development.

Last night after hearing the news that she won, Ventura began her victory speech with the words, “tonight we lit a candle of hope,” and then went into a long list of personalized call-outs to thank volunteers by name. “We won against big money with a simple, truthful message, and we did it with an entirely volunteer staff,” said Ventura. “Tonight we didn’t just beat my opponent, we beat a broken political system.”

Campaign Manager John Laesch also spoke at the victory party and highlighted how the political establishment had worked overtime to tip the scales towards Mattson. “They gave him the advantage of incumbency with a 7-day appointment, they gave him a fundraising advantage and hundreds of thousands of dollars overnight, they gave him endorsements from several elected Democrat from Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth to local officials, and despite those advantages, we still won!”

On the night of the election Ventura did receive calls to congratulate her from Senate President, Don Harmon, and her political opponent, Eric Mattson. On Wednesday, she fielded a number of other calls from other elected Democratic officials. Notably, the political engineers behind the Mattson project, Jennifer Bertino Tarrant and Natalie Manley, have not called. Rachel took most of the calls while driving around the district picking up yard signs.

Rachel Ventura Outspent 10:1 and Wins Hotly Contentious Democratic Primary in Illinois’ 43rd District

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