CANDIDATES for state office in Illinois are being caught in a squeeze: the cost of campaigning is going up and financial disclosure requirements make it more difficult to raise funds.
Former Gov. William G. Stratton, who served as a Republican congressman and state treasurer before being elected in 1952 to the first of two terms as governor, thinks the time is ripe to do something about reducing campaign costs.
Stratton, who was defeated by Democrat Otto Kerner in 1960 when he tried for a third consecutive term as governor, said he is aghast at the $1.5 million or $2 million estimates placed on the 1972 and 1976 gubernatorial campaigns. "When I ran, $50,000 to $100,000 would finance a campaign, but television has changed all that," Stratton said recently. "If you want to cut this outrageous spending, the first thing to do is cut the campaign from about 14 months to three," Stratton said.
April to June to March
Illinois had April primaries until 1968,
when they were shifted to June. That year,
Kerner resigned as governor in May and
Samuel H. Shapiro moved up from lieutenant
governor to governor, and also
became the Democratic nominee for the fall
general election. The low turnout in the June
primary led to cries to return the primary to
winter, and March was chosen. This past
year, Gov. Walker vetoed legislation moving
the primary to May. After the veto, legislators
reevaluated the impact of a later date
on the Democratic gubernatorial primary
election, and there was no effort to override
the Walker veto.
"Don't fool around with April, or May, but do the job where it ought to be done," Stratton insists. "Put it back in September, or somewhere like that. Then you'll get a good hot campaign on real issues through September, October and November. I just can't see why the public doesn't stand up and demand we cut this out."
Shortening the campaign
Decisions on candidacy usually have to be
made in September in the year before the
elections so petitions can be filed by
December. As a rule, a basic campaign
apparatus has to be organized a full year in
advance and kept going lest there be the
appearance of loss of momentum. Offices
have to be rented, help hired, furnishings
and equipment leased, and mailings and
heavy telephone work begun at increasing
cost these days. Shortening the campaign, in
Stratton's opinion, is the best way to cut
costs, and the one least likely to involve the
government. "I am very hesitant about any
government, federal or state, using any
taxpayer funds for campaigns," Stratton
said. "It may tend to give some stability, but
I think it also gives unfair advantage to
incumbents, and the people that eventually
are going to control what government does.
Whenever you see government financing,
you see government controlling the purse
strings."
What about convention delegates
The problem some have posed about
picking party presidential convention
delegates before mid-summer conventions is
not insurmountable, in Stratton's opinion.
"They are not public officials, or even party
officials," Stratton said. "You are dealing
with party organization rather than the
public interest, and I wouldn't be adverse to
some sort of party convention with delegates
selected by county committees or something
like that."
Stratton noted that with a short, two-year term of office coming up, state officials sworn in during January 1977 will be gearing up for their next election by December of the same year. A change in the primary election date could change this. "The legislature had better change it," Stratton asserted. "Its inexcusable the way it is now. In a big state like Illinois, it's a disaster."
April 1976 / Illinois Issues / 9