Evanston Second Ward Council Member Krissie Harris said that she has returned two $6,000 donations to her campaign from individuals with close ties to the Ryan family, which is funding about 60% of Northwestern University’s planned $800 million new football stadium.
Harris, who was appointed by Mayor Daniel Biss in 2022 and is running for a full term this spring against challengers Darlene Cannon and Patricia Gregory, told the RoundTable Monday, March 20, that she was never contacted by the donors or anyone else connected to the Ryans. One of the checks came from an employee of the Ryan Specialty Group, a specialty insurance company owned by the family, while the other donation came in from Jennifer Glass, who lives in New York and is married to a Ryan family member.
Pat Ryan, who has reshaped Northwestern’s facilities with massive monetary contributions to the school over the years, is the billionaire retired founder and chief executive of the insurance giant Aon Corporation.
Harris received the campaign donations last week while she was in the hospital being treated for a health issue, so she did not immediately learn about the money until a couple of days later, she said.
“We asked the [campaign finance] group to have the money sent back. That [$6,000] seemed excessive to me,” Harris said. “This is the first time I’m running for office, and I haven’t received money that high. So that triggered something, like what’s going on?”
Over the weekend, the Community Alliance for Better Government (CABG) published a press release condemning the payments as a tactic used by the Ryan family to win over City Council support for the new stadium proposal and the zoning amendments that go with it.
The local advocacy group released another statement on Monday, after Harris confirmed her plans to return the campaign donations, saying that it was “pleased” by the decision but still concerned about Harris and her connections to people backing the stadium plans.
“I would have come forward immediately to ensure it was clear that I was in no way soliciting this, but neither was I willing to take money that undoubtedly would come with an unwritten quid pro quo agreement,” CABG President Lesley Williams said in the statement. “Seems like it was the exposure that changed her [Harris’] mind, not her ethics. She could at least have donated the money in a way that would benefit her constituents, such as contributing to the reparations fund.”
Williams and CABG have already endorsed challenger Cannon for the Second Ward council seat.
Harris said she was “disappointed” that no one from CABG contacted her to ask for her side of the story before questioning her campaign’s morals. Harris said she and her treasurer had no idea who the donors were. But as soon as they realized the donors had connections to the Ryans, they decided not to accept the checks.
She also told the RoundTable that her treasurer had called Monday morning to notify her about a third $6,000 donation, which her campaign is currently investigating. She did not know the donor’s name at the time, and the Illinois State Board of Elections campaign disclosures were only last updated on March 14.
“It seems a little suspicious to me that this is all of the sudden coming in. I’m confused. My team is confused,” Harris said, adding that she had no intention of accepting any dollars from individuals or groups with special interests. “I’ve always not been happy about political dollars like that, because that’s money we can use to fund programs, not push agendas. That’s money we can be doing stuff with, not commercials and ads.”
So well said Lisa Laude. I hope 2nd Ward voters hear you!
On another note: I believe the RT posted Aaron Cohen’s post twice. Surely once is enough.
These donations are made electronically through democracy engine. Krissie Harris did not have any discussions with anyone having to do with any donations from either of these donors. They were submitted electronically, on line, processed via democracy engine and dispersed electronically. If she keeps the donations, there is a problem, she chose to send them back, THAT is a problem.
Kelly, I wonder how many of the loud voices calling for “transparency” are interested in hearing your facts about these donations? Or, is a conspiratorial spin more important to their cause? At any rate, I appreciate your efforts to bring facts to this discussion.
Donations over $1,000, whether sent directly to the candidate or via Democracy Engine (Act Blue, etc.), require that you file a Schedule A with the Illinois State Board of Elections within 5 days if a donation exceeds $1,000. In this case the donations were $6,000 each, which would have triggered this rule. As a result, Krissie and her team would have to file March 17th and 18th, respectively for the donations that appeared in her account March 12th and 13th. You have to include on that filing the name, address and vocation of those individuals. So Krissie and her team necessarily would have known by those dates that these were each out of town donors, and that Ms. Topping was employed by the Ryan Speciality Group at Northwestern-in this case no later than March 17.
If I know Peter Braithwaite is employed by Northwestern as among other titles Director of Community Engagement and was a former alderperson I do believe Ms Harris knows his strong connections
Wait- are we to go through the campaign donations- cash or in kind- to all aldermanic candidates to see how many donors might be affiliated with groups opposing the Ryan Field rezoning? That might be an interesting exercise in “transparency.”
Bashing someone for receiving an unsolicited donation is wrong. Especially from those trying to bring relevance to their candidate.
The 2nd ward residents know the leadership Krissie has demonstrated for years. She is constant. She has her own thoughts, writes her own speeches, doesn’t play dirty and was out leading in the community long before appointed to council.
Many have lots to say but for years although given opportunity have nothing of substance that they have accomplished for the community. Never cared enough to run for office themselves but enriched themselves for years. Without making any substantial contribution to those who needed it most, yet the senseless talk continues.
We see you, we hear your names but we can’t find your substantial contributions to the community anywhere, unless pay was involved.
You have been here long enough but still nothing. One should search themselves and take into account their lack of real contribution before bashing those doing the work.
They say all politics are local…until they’re not. The kind of influence peddling we see around the country with dark money groups investing in local school board campaigns has come to Evanston City Council campaigns. Northwestern’s latest brazen effort to shape and control Evanston with its Ryan Field scheme now includes donations such as this? Wow!
Mayor Biss, it’s time for you to explain the reasons behind your full-throated endorsement of Councilmembers Harris and Geracaris, your own stance on the Ryan rebuild, and your discussions with NU President Schill and others at the university about all this. We hear the word “transparency” used often by people who use it to cover completely opaque dealings. Enough.
It doesn’t seem to me there was any confusion on Harris’ part, just an attempt to recover after the public outing of her donor list. Braithwaite & Hagerty – while local – are other large donors to her campaign & they are both deep in the pockets of NU. Sadly, our current mayor also seems to have decided that a ‘calm’ City Council – in lock-step with NU – is more important that a Council which speaks up for their constituents.
Northwestern’s ill-advised zoning scheme to operate a huge, professional, profit-generating sports and entertainment complex was hatched in secrecy and is being bull-rushed through the approval process. It’s a very bad idea, and as this story shows, it’s causing more problems every day. In the powerful words of Councilman Tom Suffredin, “Northwestern has chosen to effort this like a political campaign, with slick mailers, a manipulative ‘push’ poll, yard signs and allegedly ‘grass roots’ groups.” What Northwestern is demanding would mean 10 concerts a year larger than the capacity of the United Center and an unlimited number of events with the size of the crowds at Northerly Island in Chicago – all crammed into a densely populated residential community with inadequate parking. Again to quote Councilman Suffredin: “Northwestern’s claim that the Ryan Field plan entails no public costs reeks of dishonesty.” The city needs to call a halt to this reckless scheme and allow for meaningful community input and thorough, objective review of the real costs and impact: to our infrastructure, to the environment (air pollution from idling vehicles, noise, etc.), to the budget implications of a permanent increase in law enforcement, and traffic gridlock impeding access to the nearby hospital, schools, businesses and churches, to name but a few. There’s a reason that successful major urban projects involve transparency, thoughtful study, and true public engagement. These also should be the hallmarks of universities in how they interact with their communities.
It looks like Krissie Harris returned the $12,000 when she got caught receiving Ryan money. Trust and integrity are big issues in politics. Her explanation is very weak.
I hope for the day when our first assumption about a person isn’t the worst.
Thank you, RoundTable, for reporting on this issue. I think it’s important to note that Ms. Harris accepted donations from two other high-profile proponents of rezoning Ryan Field for commercial use: Peter Braithwaite and Steve Hagerty.
They say all politics are local…until they’re not. The kind of influence peddling we see around the country with dark money groups investing in local school board campaigns has come to Evanston City Council campaigns. Northwestern’s latest brazen effort to shape and control Evanston with its Ryan Field scheme now includes donations such as this? Wow!
Mayor Biss, it’s time for you to explain the reasons behind your full-throated endorsement of Councilmembers Harris and Geracaris, your own stance on the Ryan rebuild, and your discussions with NU President Schill and others at the university about all this. You hear the word “transparency” used often by people who use it to cover their completely opaque dealings. Enough.
This is a stretch. I googled Alice Topping, and immediately see her linked in listing her as the Chief Marketing Officer for the Ryan Group. Krissie and her campaign manager were not able to put two and two together?! Really?