United Working Families PAC leader filed false campaign report in Wisconsin

The leader of a new political action committee supporting mayoral challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia was convicted in Wisconsin eight years ago for filing a false campaign finance report.

Garcia attended a rally Thursday night organized by the United Working Families Political Action Committee, whose leader is former Wisconsin political operative Kristen Crowell.

Illinois records show Crowell formed the group’s PAC on Jan. 16 and it since has been funded largely by Garcia’s two biggest supporters, the Service Employees International Union Healthcare local and the Chicago Teachers Union.

Garcia’s campaign manager, Andrew Sharp, sought to distance from Garcia from Crowell when asked about her 2007 criminal case Friday.

He said Crowell has not been directly involved in Garcia campaign to unseat Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

“She is not on staff and never has been,” Sharp said. “She is really just one of thousands of people in Chicago who are anxious to replace Rahm Emanuel.”

According to a news release from United Working Families last week, Garcia “was present when UWF was formed over the summer, and UWF was instrumental in his run for mayor — and his victory in forcing multiple runoffs on Feb. 24.”

United Working Families took credit for “providing resources and organization at all levels” for Garcia and 17 progressive City Council candidates in the February primary.

“In the first major test since it was founded, United Working Families played a vital role in the election results that shook the Chicago political landscape,” according to the group.

United Working Families has reported getting more than $53,000 from SEIU Healthcare Illinois Indiana PAC, which was an early and primary backer of Garcia’s mayoral bid.

The pro-Garcia teachers union gave $46,000 to United Working Families on Wednesday, state campaign-finance records show.

United Working Families “has been hugely important in getting to this moment” by organizing grassroots support, said Jackson Potter, the CTU’s staff coordinator.

Asked about Crowell’s criminal record, Potter said, “Things happen. People get in trouble, do penance, move on. That doesn’t mean they’re not capable, competent, dedicated to the struggle.”

Crowell, 39, got into trouble in her native Wisconsin after filing a campaign finance report for the committee she formed for a school board race in Milwaukee.

In 2005, she reported closing the account by repaying a $900 loan she said she made to her campaign and by making a donation of $237.41 to an activist group in the Milwaukee suburb of Cudahy.

But Milwaukee elections officials discovered she had never reported loaning any money to her campaign. And a police officer who reviewed bank records found the account balance was $14.48 — not the $1,137.41 that Crowell had reported.

Known at that time as Kristen O’Neill, Crowell admitted to authorities that she had not made the donation she reported giving to the activist group.

She told officials “she filed the report ‘to get this matter over with,’” according to Milwaukee County court records.

But it only ended after Crowell pleaded guilty to a criminal misdemeanor charge, serving 40 hours of community service and paying a $750 fine.

“As a young mother and first-time candidate running for the school board, I made a mistake, admitted I that I was wrong and paid the fines,” Crowell said in a statement sent to the Chicago Sun-Times by Graeme Zielinski, the spokesman for United Working Families.

“Navigating running for office is not easy, which is why I am committed to training and helping candidates so they do not make the same mistake I did,” she said.

Like Crowell, Zielinski previously worked in Wisconsin, as spokesman for the state’s Democratic Party. He was removed from that post two years ago after making Twitter comments comparing Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to Milwaukee serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal.

Mike Tate, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, says Zielinski remained with the party in a changed role and left months later “on good, mutual terms and for entirely unrelated reasons.”

Crowell was head of We Are Wisconsin, a group that failed to unseat Walker. In a recent interview with Chicago magazine, she said she came to Chicago two years ago and took the job with United Working Families to continue her “lifelong commitment to advancing a progressive agenda.”