Chicago Chesney:
The Money, the PACs, and the Price of Silence
FREEPORT, IL – October 17, 2025
The Cost of Incumbency
State Senator Andrew Chesney entered the 2025 Republican primary season with nearly a quarter of a million dollars in campaign assets — a war chest built on years of big checks, political favors, and family money. Yet despite that financial advantage, Chesney’s most recent Q3 2025 filing with the Illinois State Board of Elections shows a candidate on defense: raising $29,990.10, spending $40,516.03, and relying on the same Chicago–Springfield donor network he claims to stand against.
His ending balance — $37,548.23 in cash and $216,576.21 in investments — reveals a politician spending heavily to protect the seat he’s already held for years. But more telling than what he raised is who he’s raising it from — and why so many of those donors profit from silence on one of Freeport’s worst problems.
PACs, Property, and Political Payback
When you follow the money in Chesney’s report, one trend is unmistakable: real estate and property interests are bankrolling his campaign.
Among his largest donors this quarter:
Realtor PAC (Springfield, IL) – $2,500
Security First Title Company (Freeport, IL) – $2,500
Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Co. (Glenview, IL) – $1,500
IL Bankers PAC (Springfield, IL) – $2,000
Add in contributions from Manufacturers PAC, Community BancPac, and Contractors for Free Enterprise, and a picture emerges of a campaign funded by those who buy, sell, or insure property — not those struggling to live in it.
This isn’t just political trivia. In Freeport and across Northwestern Illinois, slumlords and absentee landlords have gutted neighborhoods, driving up code violations, displacing families, and tanking property values. Residents have asked for years why local leaders like Mayor Jodi Miller and Senator Andrew Chesney refuse to take action.
Now the answer is in plain sight: because the Realtor PAC would stop writing checks.
The same PAC that pours money into Chesney’s campaign also lobbies against rental inspection laws, landlord accountability, and property maintenance reforms — the very tools Freeport needs to take its neighborhoods back.
As one lifelong resident put it bluntly to Fighting4Freeport:
“Our town is being taken over by slumlords, and the people we elected to fix it are getting paid not to.”
Chicago Money, Chicago Politics
Though Chesney calls himself a small-town conservative, his financial network tells a very different story.
His Q3 filing is lined with Chicago-area and out-of-state donors, including:
IL State Medical Society PAC (Chicago, IL) – $1,500
Guarantee Trust Life Insurance (Glenview, IL) – $1,500
Illinois CPAs for Political Action (Chicago, IL) – $400
Richard Porter (Northfield, IL) – $1,041
PhRMA (Washington, D.C.) – $500
Even his campaign consultants and vendors operate outside his district. The Newberg Group and Design & Print Solutions, both based in Morris, Illinois, received nearly $10,000 combined this quarter for consulting, printing, and compliance work — all money leaving northwestern Illinois.
It’s no surprise that within political circles, the senator is now earning a new nickname: “Chicago Chesney.”
His campaign funding, his rhetoric, and his reliance on big-city donors make him sound less like a voice for Freeport and more like a Springfield insider with Chicago money calling the shots.
Pay to Play: Charging Constituents for Access
If you needed proof of that disconnect, look no further than Chesney’s September 26th fundraiser at Blaum Bros. Distilling Co. in Galena, where attendees were charged $50 each just to meet their own senator.
Rather than hold open town halls or community forums, Chesney’s “meet and greet” required residents to pay admission — a symbolic and literal price of access.
Even his “in-kind” contribution — $1,608.90 from FCC Holdings, Inc. (Freeport) for “facility rental and beverages” — reinforces the image of a campaign focused more on golf outings and galas than governance.
Family Money and the Political Safety Net
While no donation from Steven Chesney appears in this quarter’s filing, his fingerprints remain all over the senator’s political rise. Steven Chesney — a longtime businessman and financial backer — has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to his son’s campaigns in past cycles, creating a permanent financial cushion.
And according to state filings, Steven Chesney made another $5,000 contribution in early October 2025, to appear on the senator’s next quarterly report.
The message is clear: when fundraising slows, the family checkbook opens.
The Challenger’s Contrast: “Earning Votes, Not Buying Them.”
Facing Chesney in the March 17th, 2026 Republican Primary is Joshua T. Atkinson, a U.S. Navy veteran, small business leader, and lifelong advocate for ethical, common-sense Republican leadership.
Atkinson’s campaign operates on less than $5,000 total — entirely from local, individual donors — yet he’s steadily gaining momentum across the district.
When asked how he plans to compete with Chesney’s family fortune and PAC-backed empire, Atkinson didn’t hesitate:
“Will it be hard? Yes. Is it possible? Absolutely. I’m not going to be able to raise that kind of money — and let’s be honest, neither could he. His daddy gave it to him. While he’s out begging people for their money, I’m out earning their support and votes. We are two very different people with very different priorities, and I believe that is becoming more than obvious to voters throughout District 45.”
To learn more about Joshua T. Atkinson and his campaign to restore integrity and Real Republican Values to Springfield, visit www.AtkinsonforSenate.com.
Follow the Money, Follow the Silence
For residents of Freeport and northwestern Illinois wondering why their leaders refuse to confront the slumlord crisis, the collapse of property values, and the steady decay of accountability, the truth may not be found in speeches — but in bank statements.
When your top donors are Realtor PACs and property lobbyists, it’s no mystery why reform stalls. When your campaign consultants and sponsors are based in Chicago and Springfield, it’s no surprise the people of Freeport, Lena, and Stockton can’t get a call returned.
Senator Andrew Chesney may still campaign under the Republican banner, but his financial record tells a different story — one written in the language of political insiders and real estate money.
Because in this race, it’s not about just being red — it’s about Real Republican Values.
And to Andy, it seems, it’s all about green.
