New site lets Illinoisans search political, campaign spending

Posted on August 10, 2015

By John Gregory

CHICAGO – Searching through political contributions and campaign spending in Illinois is easier thanks to a new online database.

It’s called Illinois Sunshine, and it allows you to find information about political donations and expenditures dating back to 1994.

Sarah Brune, deputy director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, says it’s not just a tool for journalists or political junkies.

“This is most comprehensive database of its kind,” Brune said. “It puts previously siloed information all together on one page. It really represents a breakthrough in providing visual data on political committees and spending in Illinois.”

The site allows you to search through candidates and political committee, including independent expenditure groups known as SuperPACs.

The site’s homepage features lists of the top 10 highest-earning political committees over the past 30 days and the most well-funded committees overall.

The top two in the list of committees with the most funds are groups both have ties to Gov. Bruce Rauner. His Citizens for Rauner candidate committee has $19.6 million on hand, while IllinoisGO, a SuperPAC which claims to be supporting Democrats but has been accused of backing Rauner’s so-called “turnaround agenda,” has nearly $9 million.

You can search the database at illinoissunshine.org.

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