Mayor Brandon Johnson’s campaign fund has returned dozens of contributions totaling more than $50,000, including money given by city contractors after his 2023 election — in violation of city ethics rules.
The Chicago Sun-Times published a story Nov. 10 raising questions about the contractor contributions — which are barred for sitting mayors under an executive order enacted by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2011 and still in effect — as well as potentially improper contributions from city lobbyists.
At the time, Johnson’s aides described the acceptance of the money as a mistake and pledged to return every contribution flagged by the Sun-Times.
Records filed Tuesday with the Illinois State Board of Elections show Johnson’s campaign fund made refunds to many — but not all — of those people and companies between Nov. 9 and the end of the year.
Among those who gave to the Friends of Brandon Johnson despite being city contractors are Michael Tadin Sr., who runs MAT Leasing Inc., and his son Michael Tadin Jr., who runs MAT Construction Leasing Inc.
Both men, who run their businesses from the same South Side location, gave $1,500 checks to Johnson’s campaign fund on Aug. 21 as part of a fundraiser downtown, according to records and interviews.
Both have contracts with City Hall, including work worth potentially millions of dollars for leasing heavy equipment to city agencies as needed.
Their campaign contributions were among those refunded, the records show, along with $5,000 given by two other family members.
Another company recently refunded was WSP USA, which contributed $1,500 to Johnson’s campaign on June 30, about six weeks before a city contract worth up to $25 million took effect for the company to provide “professional construction engineering services” for road and bridge projects overseen by City Hall, records show.
The Sun-Times previously reported that Johnson’s campaign received three contributions from Kyla Griggs in October totaling $10,000. She listed 3520 S. Morgan St. as her address. That’s the address of GMA Construction Group, a company started by Cornelius Griggs that is carrying out airfield work at city-run O’Hare International Airport with Turner Paschen Aviation Partners.
Johnson’s campaign refunded $3,100 to her Dec. 31, records show.
A political action committee called Leaders for Tomorrow that also lists the Morgan Street address and includes Cornelius Griggs as an officer gave $24,000 to Johnson’s campaign on April 21. That was between the April 4 election and May 15 inauguration, so it wasn’t subject to the contribution ban.
On Dec. 22, the group made three more contributions to Johnson totaling $25,000, records show.
Johnson’s campaign didn’t immediately comment on the money returns, but previously described the acceptance of city contractor contributions as an “oversight” that was discovered even before the Sun-Times began asking about them.
Campaign aide Christian Perry said in November, “In the first several months following the transition, our nationally based compliance team evaluated contributions under the ordinance for city elected officials rather than the executive orders for sitting mayors.”
Johnson’s campaign also got $1,500 on Aug. 21 from Jimmie Daniels, longtime owner of Total Facility Maintenance Inc. The Wood Dale janitorial business had a contract to clean municipal buildings and other city-owned properties that expired, then was given a $4.3 million, no-bid extension by City Hall on Aug. 11, city procurement records show.
That money was returned Nov. 9, elections board records show.
The Texas law firm Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson has two deals with the city of Chicago, one for collecting money owed for traffic tickets, water bills and other outstanding payments. Ten out-of-state attorneys with the law firm each contributed $1,000 on May 11 — four days before Johnson’s inauguration — and the firm gave $1,500 on the same date.
The firm’s contribution was returned, but not the money from the individual lawyers, records show.
City lobbyists are likewise banned from giving to sitting mayors, and a $2,000 contribution from lobbyist Anthony Bruno, a felon and disbarred lawyer, to Johnson’s campaign was returned Nov. 9, records show.
Johnson also has been accepting and soliciting campaign donations from labor unions with contracts with City Hall, which isn’t banned.
Groups affiliated with Operating Engineers Local 150, which had financially backed Paul Vallas in the race against Johnson, gave him about $130,000 in December, records show.
Local 150 has three contracts covering city employees that were finalized by City Hall shortly after Johnson took office.
