Politics & Government

Schneider, Sheyman Continue to Trade Barbs

Sheyman outraises all candidates for the 10th District Congressional seat including Dold.

 

While Democrat the first two months of the year than any candidate for the 10th Congressional District seat including incumbent , he has received criticism from one of his March 20 primary opponents.

Sheyman, a community organizer from Waukegan, collected $237,044.43 between Jan. 1 and Feb. 29, according to the report he filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Thursday while Dold raised $205,058 for the same period.

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The campaign of , who brought in $131,571.61 for the two months, according to the FEC report, has criticized Sheyman for the lack of money raised from citizens of the District.

“More than half of Schneider's contributors are 10th district residents, whereas Sheyman's campaign has collected less than five percent from the 10th District,” Schneider campaign manager Jarrod Backous said. Backous maintains 52 percent of Schneider’s donations come from district residents.

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Though Sheyman does not deny the statements made by the Schneider campaign, he touts the broad based support he has developed both within and outside the area. Unlike all other candidates in the race, Sheyman reports each donation regardless of amount though he is not required to do so.

“I'm thrilled we've built a campaign powered by over 600 volunteers and 16,000 donors who are committed to sending a proven progressive to Congress to represent the 10th Congressional district," Sheyman said.

. Some of the money Schneider received came from people who have donated to Kirk in the past, according to FEC reports.

“I’m glad to hear that. It demonstrates what I’ve been saying,” former state Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston) said. Hamos has endorsed Schneider. “We need a Democratic nominee who can appeal to independents. This is our one shot in 10 years,” she added of the opportunity to put a Democrat in a seat that has been in Republican hands for many years.

Those direct mail advertisements were funded by MoveOn and True Majority PAC, groups supporting Sheyman. Sheyman was an organizer for MoveOn before he declared his candidacy for Congress. Hamos does not think groups like MoveOn comprehend the 10th District.

“MoveOn does not understand complex politics of this area,” Hamos said. “This is a very sophisticated, well educated area. There is a long history of ticket splitting.” MoveOn Political Director Adam Ruben did not return calls to Patch before the deadline for this story.

While Sheyman outraised all candidates in the race the last two months, Dold maintains a large cash on hand advantage over everyone else. Dold has $1,293,659.98 in the bank as of Feb. 29 while Sheyman has $242,368.74 and Schneider has $209,734.34, according to the FEC reports.

Two other Democrats, Long Grove business owner and Mundelein attorney , have not raised as much as the others. Bavda brought in $16,272 with $816.30 in the bank for the period and Tree collected $30,958. He has $7,009.04 on hand. Tree thinks donor fatigue is a reason.

“Many of the new donors I’ve spoken with recently tell me they are just going to wait and see who wins the primary,” Tree said. “I have several hundred thousand dollars of pledges to me should I win the primary.”


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