Jodi Miller fundraised nearly $30,000 dollars over the span of 6 months during her 2017 campaign to become the mayor of Freeport, state records show.
During the election cycle, she spent about $28,500. The money went towards election advertisements, ranging from yard signs to Facebook ads.
Miller was one of her own best fundraisers; she loaned her campaign $3,500 of her own personal savings.
The mayor also received funds from many familiar faces in Stephenson County politics, such as Andrew Chesney, Freeport’s state representative; Seaga Manufacturing, the Freeport company run by Andrew Chesney’s father; and John Zajicek, a Freeport-based landlord.
31 donors gave Miller donations over $500. The largest total from a single donor (besides Miller’s self-donation) was Seaga Manufacturing’s $2,000 total contribution to the mayor.
Campaign donations can be split into two different categories: large-dollar and small-dollar. Media outlets and researchers use $200 as the cut-off for small-dollar versus large-dollar donations, and The Voice follows this standard.
Miller received $20,900 in large-dollar individual donations in the 2017 election cycle. In comparison, she received just under $5,000 in small-dollar donations. In addition, she received an additional $1,000 from a PAC in Springfield run by the Illinois Realtors Association.
Election data shows that Miller has not fundraised at all in the 3 and a half years since her 2017 run.
It would be highly unusual for a state or national politician to raise no money during a 3 year period, but it makes more sense in local elections, where it takes a relatively low amount of money to advertise and candidates campaign for a shorter period of time.
Miller will be up for re-election in April of 2021. Her campaign fund will need to file its next financial report at the end of September. The Voice will watch to see if the mayor begins fundraising as her re-election bid grows closer.
