There’s no question Steven Shearer is out to deny Bruce Rauner the GOP gubernatorial nomination.
But in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, the former chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, said any reports indicating he was out to hide the identities of donors to his committee are just not true.
Shearer, the treasurer and chair of a new committee aimed raise money to combat Rauner, said he could have launched a C-4 SuperPAC where donors would have been shielded. Instead, he has an independent expenditure committee where he will promote transparency.
“My effort is designed to be 1000 percent transparent,” Shearer told the Sun-Times. “It’s an independent expenditure committee. I have nothing to hide about this. This is all about informing Republican voters about the whole Bruce Rauner. Obviously, we’re in a Democracy and we want to provide voters with information to vote. It’s up to them to do what they want with it to the degree they find it credible.”
In that vein, Shearer’s group, the Republican Fund for Progress and Jobs, reported its first contribution — $45,000 from the Operating Engineers Local 150.
The group aims to combat an onslaught of TV advertising by the Rauner campaign.
The effort will not include an endorsement any one of Rauner’s three competitors but will give voters the option.
