SPRINGFIELD – Attorneys Stephen Tillery and John Driscoll, who poured money into judicial campaigns from Missouri, adjusted their addresses after Illinois legislators banned out of state money.
The Chicago branch of the Korein Tillery firm in St. Louis contributed $6,000 to St. Clair County circuit judge candidate Patrick Foley on May 27.
Driscoll, whose state registration places him in Puerto Rico, gave Foley $10,000 in March as an individual with a Belleville address.
Illinois candidates would have missed out on the Tillery and Driscoll dough if they had stayed over the border.
The Illinois General Assembly passed a law last November prohibiting judicial candidates from accepting out-of-state and so-called "dark money" anonymous contributions.
Tillery’s firm has delivered $1,136,207.92 to Illinois campaigns through June 13, all from a St. Louis address.
Tillery himself has contributed $281,550.
He used either the firm’s address or a Belleville address until 2010, when he stopped using the Belleville address.
Driscoll’s firm has contributed $366,299 to Illinois campaigns.
All of it came from St. Louis until 2020, when he began sending contributions from either St. Louis or San Juan.
He has contributed $68,083 as an individual, starting 22 years ago with small amounts from addresses in Swansea, Fairview Heights, and Belleville.
After 2007, his individual contributions came from his firm’s address.
Last year he made individual contributed from St. Louis, San Juan, and a Belleville address different from the one on the Foley contribution.
Lots of lawyers besides Tillery and Driscoll support Foley.
He received at least $53,504 from lawyers and at least $4,610 from judges in the first quarter, amounting to 72 percent of his receipts.
He received $7,400 from persons other than lawyers, $6,250 in transfers from other campaigns, and $8,321 in contributions and transfers without names.
Belleville firms Becker Hoerner, Hipskind and McAninch, and Weilmuenster Keck each gave him $5,000.
Chatham and Baricevic in Belleville gave him $2,500, and former chief judge John Baricevic of that firm gave him $250.
Van Lear Eckert of Belleville and the Rich Rich Cooksey firm in Fairview Heights each gave him $2,000.
Bruce N. Cook and son Bruce R. Cook of Belleville each gave him $1,000.
Belleville firms Bonifield and Rosenstengel, Kuehn Beasley, and Williams Caponi each gave him $1,000, as did Rhonda Fiss and Courtney Clark of Belleville.
Cates Mahoney in Swansea, Heather Wescoat Dabler of Columbia, and the Gori firm in Edwardsville each gave him $1,000.
Circuit judges Robert Haida and Christopher Kolker, retired judge Vincent Lopinot, and associate judge Dominic Kujawa each gave him $1,000.
Circuit Judge John O’Gara gave him $500.
Associate judges Stacy Campbell and Thomas Cannady each gave him $300, and Circuit Judge Zina Cruse gave him $300 through her campaign committee.
Appellate judge Judy Cates and associate judge Julie Katz each gave him $250.
Other than lawyers, no one gave him $1,000 except Eugene Keeley of Smithton and David Miller of Belleville.
Foley has no opponent in the June 28 Democrat primary.
Republican opponent Bill Stiehl, currently circuit judge by appointment, has no opponent in the primary.
Stiehl organized a campaign committee on May 31.