Pekau illegally used money from his mayoral campaign to pay for his congressional campaign
End Citizens United (ECU) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) asking for an investigation into Keith Pekau, candidate for U.S. House in Illinois’ 6th Congressional District.
The complaint states that Pekau violated federal election law by spending over $19,000 from his mayoral campaign’s account to benefit his campaign for Congress. After winning reelection as Mayor, Pekau’s mayoral campaign conducted polling, paid for website consulting, and other consulting services, while launching his congressional campaign. Under federal law, it is illegal to use money from the candidate’s state or local campaign account for a federal campaign.
The complaint also asserts that Pekau illegally skirted federal contribution limits by using his mayoral campaign money to pay for services for his congressional campaign.
Click here to read coverage of the complaint in The Daily Southtown
Click here to read the full complaint
“Keith Pekau illegally spent thousands of dollars from his mayoral campaign to pay for his congressional campaign. We are calling on the FEC to immediately investigate,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “Illinois voters are tired of politicians like Pekau using deceitful and shady practices for their own self-serving extremist agenda.”
In the complaint:
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Keith Pekau was elected as Mayor of Orland Park in April 2021. He then formed a principal campaign committee for his congressional campaign, Pekau for Congress on November 15, 2021, while his mayoral campaign committee, Keith For Mayor, was still registered and active.
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On November 15, 2021, Pekau also filed his original Statement of Candidacy with the FEC in which he declared his intention to run for Congress, and on November 22, 2021 Pekau announced his congressional campaign to the public.
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From November 2021 to June 27, 2022, after Pekau launched his congressional campaign, his mayoral committee spent $37,572 in consulting fees, advertising and polling.
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Despite the fact that Pekau was elected as Mayor in April 2021 and he was not running for re-election but instead was running for Congress, his mayoral committee continued to make payments to McPherson Public Affairs Group and hired the services of COR Services in June 2021.
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Since Pekau filed his candidacy for Congress, Pekau’s mayoral committee has disbursed $9,246.36 for multiple consulting fees to McPherson Public Affairs Group and COR Services. Pekau’s congressional committee has also been making regular payments to COR Services and to McPherson Public Affairs Group since January 2022.
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Pekau’s mayoral committee also accepted contributions from federally prohibited sources and in amounts in excess of those permitted by federal law.
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The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and FEC regulations prohibit federal candidates from soliciting, receiving, directing, transferring or spending funds in connection with a federal campaign unless the funds are subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Commission regulations provide that individuals simultaneously running for federal and state office “must raise, accept, and spend only Federal funds for the Federal election.”
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Moreover, to ensure that federal campaigns are funded with federally permissible funds, a federal candidate is prohibited from transferring funds or assets from the candidate’s nonfederal campaign committee to their federal campaign committee.
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Pekau’s mayoral committee’s expenditures and contributions do not correspond to those commonly made by the campaign of a victorious mayoral candidate. Instead, they indicate that the payments made from Pekau’s mayoral committee after his election were an impermissible transfer to Pekau’s congressional campaign.
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The mayoral committee’s contributions to other campaigns and high expenditures on polling, advertising, a website and consulting are typical of a campaign that is still in its early stages, and not of a campaign that is winding down after an election.
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It is odd for a mayoral campaign, which has been using the same consultant since 2017, to hire a second consultant just two months after winning the election. Even more peculiar is that Pekau filed his candidacy for Congress and registered his federal committee only a few months after his mayoral committee began making payments to COR Services for polling services, and his congressional campaign also hired both consultants from the start.
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The payment made by his mayoral committee for polling services only one month prior to registering his federal committee and payment for additional polling two weeks before Pekau announced his candidacy to the public suggest that the polling was done to prepare for his upcoming federal campaign.
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The sequence of payments by both campaigns suggests that impermissible transfers and use of funds have been occurring since Pekau’s congressional campaign began.
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In total, it appears Pekau’s mayoral committee spent at least $19,196.36 to support his congressional campaign.
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The nature and timing of expenditures by Pekau’s mayoral committee and his congressional committee are exceedingly suspicious and require further investigation by the FEC.
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It appears that Pekau repeatedly violated federal law by using his mayoral campaign committee to pay for consulting services for his federal congressional campaign.
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