McHenry Times

The shadowy political players that financed some vicious, completely unsubstantiated mailers targeting a slate of county-level Republican candidates will be unmasked if Joe Tirio, McHenry County recorder, wins his day in court.

On May 23, Tirio and his lawyer, Phil Prossnitz of Woodstock, will stand before Judge Kevin Costello of the 22nd Circuit Court armed with a new state Supreme Court rule that could force the printer of the mailers, Chicago-based Breaker Press, to reveal who requested them. 

The 224 petition rule is used to provide potential plaintiffs a means to conduct limited discovery. 

Joe Tirio

The mailers accusing the candidates of being “crooked, sleazy and filled with racist hate-filled ideas” hit homes in the weeks before the March 20 primary.

“A certain amount of mudslinging is to be expected,” Prossnitz said in a statement. "But what was done here was unconscionable. Joe is a good man. We believe in the eye of the law these mailers went too far.”

All Tirio and Prossnitz have now is the name of the group, the “Illinois Integrity Fund,” and an address in Hoffman Estates, where – confirmed by a visit – sits an unoccupied office.

In the face of the negative campaign, Tirio won the Republican nomination for McHenry County clerk. One of his goals is to save the taxpayers money by combining the offices and duties of the recorder and clerk.

“I wasn’t just called names," Tirio told the McHenry Times. "I was accused of committing crimes with taxpayers’ money. Throughout my political career, I’ve tried to make county government more efficient and responsible, and save the taxpayers’ money.  These accusations serve no purpose but to misinform a voter, rob him of his or her vote, and discourage civic-minded people from getting involved in politics."

As a third-party spending money on a campaign, the Illinois Integrity Fund is required by law to register with the Illinois State Board of Elections. But Spokesman Matt Dietrich  said that the board still has not received a reply to a March 16 letter informing the “Illinois Integrity Fund” that under the Campaign Disclosure Act it may need to file reports

“If you spend $5,000 a year or more on a campaign, then you are required to register with us,” Dietrich said in an earlier story on the issue. “If you don’t spend $5,000, then you are required to write us a letter with details of your expenditures. We have no listing of anything.”

Dietrich said that the penalty for late filing or failure to file a statement of organization is $50 per business day, up to a maximum of $5,000, or $10,000 for statewide office political committees.

“We could also seek a temporary restraining order or permanent injunction against a committee to cease expenditures and operations until the D-1 (Statement of Organization) is filed,” he said.

Tirio said that his campaign was hit three or four times with the mailers, and that the group financed Google and Facebook ads as well. He estimated the cost of the mailers and the ads that targeted him and the other candidates at more than $100,000, and he said they had an impact.

“I should have won by a landslide over my opponent,” he said. “She had virtually no campaign; no website; a few signs. But I won by only 3,000 votes.”

Breaker Press has a client list loaded with Illinois Democratic officials. Campaign finance records show McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks’ campaign committee has paid Breaker Press more than $57,000 since 2008, and House Speaker Michael Madigan has spent more than $173,000 since 2010.