Not everybody gets the big checks

The 90th House District is shaping up to be all about the primary.

Four Republicans are running for the seat, which will represent residents of Lee, Ogle, DeKalb and La Salle counties.

But only Lee County Board Member Tom Demmer has received donations meeting the $1,000 mark. Dixon businessman Liandro Arellano Jr., Rochelle Mayor Chet Olson and Daniel Sidmore of DeKalb are also running.

Candidates must notify the State Board of Elections of contributions of $1,000 or more within five business days.

Four Dixon residents each contributed $1,000 to the Demmer campaign: Tom Shaw, the CEO of Shaw Media, the parent company of Sauk Valley Media; the Rev. Michael Morrissey, a priest at St. Anne Parish; Dixon resident Cynthia Neisewander; and Linda Vandervort, the wife of former KSB Hospital CEO Darryl Vandervort. The Neisewander Family Foundation donated another $1,000.

Demmer is KSB’s government and public relations coordinator.

One House District over, state Rep. Rich Morthland, R-Cordova, is being challenged by two Democrats.

Mike Smiddy of Hillsdale raised $5,000 in big-ticket donations for the last quarter of 2011. Half of that came from the Great Plains Laborers Local 309 and the other half from Rock Island Firefighters Local 26. Whiteside County board member Jim Arduini of Sterling did not disclose any of those types of donations.

Morthland raised $7,000, with $5,000 of that coming from John Deere.

Fundraising wasn’t just for candidates with challengers. State Sen. Tim Bivins, R-Dixon, raised $7,000 in donations of at least $1,000.

For more info

Go to elections.il.gov to look at the campaign finances for all the area candidates. Disclosure reports for all contributions donated during the last quarter are due next Tuesday. Check in with Sauk Valley Media to see how candidates did overall and where smaller donations fit in.