ICYMI: IL-17 GOP Candidate Esther Joy King Accused Of Using Campaign Funds To Pay Rent

Ahead of Tuesday’s election, Esther Joy King is facing allegations that she has been violating campaign finance laws for nearly two years. A newly filed complaint accused the IL-17 GOP candidate of grossly misusing campaign funds to cover thousands of dollars of rent costs:

…King’s campaign has made 18 different payments ranging between $300 and $900 to the management company of her private residence between Oct. 2020 and July 2022, FEC records show.

This instance is just another proof point that King was plucked from Chicago by Washington party leaders to run for this seat – and that’s exactly who she’d serve if she’s elected. Already, King has shown she’d fall in line with her party’s extreme agenda by peddling the Big Lie and crusading against reproductive freedom.

DCCC Spokesman Matt Corridoni
“Esther Joy King has a storied history of placing her own interests above Illinoisans. She cannot be trusted. Voters are tired of her bowing to MAGA extremists and will reject her in a few days time.”

Read more about King’s dishonesty below:

Heartland Signal: Esther Joy King accused of using campaign funds to pay rent
By Richard Eberwein
11/05/22

• Earlier this week, the Democratic Party of Illinois (DPI) filed a complaint alleging that GOP congressional candidate Esther Joy King may have violated campaign finance laws by allegedly using campaign funds to pay for rent.

• The complaint provides evidence suggesting that King, running for Illinois’ 17th Congressional District, has been using her private residence as her campaign headquarters, and using campaign funds to pay rent on the property. Although her principal campaign committee is listed at another address, King’s campaign has made 18 different payments ranging between $300 and $900 to the management company of her private residence between Oct. 2020 and July 2022, FEC records show.

• The minimum rent for a residence at King’s apartment complex, The Bend Apartments, costs $999 a month. Therefore, the Democratic Party of Illinois contends, the apartment has mixed personal and campaign use and therefore would be a direct violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which does not allow campaign funds to “converted by any person to personal use.”

• “There is no violation that undermines the public’s faith in the election system and in our elected officials more than a candidate using their campaign as a personal piggy bank,” DPI Interim Executive Director Ben Hardin said in the complaint.

• Former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell faced similar allegations in 2010 where she used tens of thousands of dollars in campaign funds to pay for her rent. This prompted a lawsuit from the Federal Election Commission.

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