State Senator Don Harmon will not have to pay more than $9.8 million in fines and forfeitures, after the Illinois State Board of Elections deadlocked for a second time along partisan lines.
As it did in October, the eight member Illinois State Board of Elections — four Democrats and four Republicans — deadlocked 4-4 at its Nov. 18 meeting on a motion to deny an appeal by Harmon of penalties related to his alleged violation of state campaign finance law.
That effectively allows Harmon’s appeal to stand, due to no board majority having voted to either deny or affirm his appeal. Both ISBE hearing officer Barbara Goodman and the election board’s General Counsel, Marni Malowitz, had recommended denying the appeal.
“As far as I’m concerned, this case is over,” Malowitz said after the board vote, to which Harmon’s attorney, Mike Kasper, replied, “Agreed.”
“We’re pleased to have this matter finally behind us and to focus all of our energy on solving the real problems facing Illinoisians every day,” Harmon spokesman Tom Bowen said in a statement Tuesday.
Others suggested there are still issues to be decided.
ISBE chair Laura Donahue, who is also a former Republican state senator, told Capitol News Illinois that the non-decision leaves the election board “in kind of a limbo…” due to having legal recommendations but no definitive decision.
“We won’t have any direction because we’ve had recommendations from the hearing officer, our general counsel and we don’t know what an election cycle is defined (as),” Donahue said, expressing hope that the Illinois Legislature or the court system could fill in the blanks.
Senate Republican Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, said in a statement he was disappointed the board ignored the recommendations.
“When the facts support a major violation, the rules should be enforced — no exceptions,” Curran said. “This decision undermines accountability and further erodes the public’s trust.”
On a separate motion at the Nov. 18 meeting, the elections board voted to remove the case from its docket and also voted for a motion stating that it lacked jurisdiction over constitutional issues, including free speech, that Harmon’s lawyer had raised.
Last spring ISBE staff found that the Friends of Don Harmon organization had violated state election law by accepting just over $4 million more than legally allowed. At issue is whether Harmon’s action lifted the caps through the end of that election cycle — for a period of approximately 10 months — or until he ran in the 2026 general election, another two years later.
An ISBE appointed hearing officer found that Harmon had violated the law and recommended to the ISBE that fines and forfeiture be imposed on the Harmon campaign. ISBE General Counsel Malowitz concurred with the hearing officer. But at its October meeting, the board deadlocked 4-4.
The next day The Liberty Justice Center issued a press release saying that it had filed a petition with the ISBE on behalf of Nick Binotti, seeking to have Binotti be part of the case being heard.
The LJC’s involvement in the Harmon case, the press release stated, “underscores a simple principle: no one is above the law — not even those who helped write it.”
In an Instagram post the day before the Nov. 18 ISBE meeting, the LJC stated, “Don Harmon violated Illinois campaign finance law. The SBE’s own hearing officer agreed. If the board deadlocks again, we’re stepping in. The courts can decide whether members broke state law or compel them to act.”
The LJC said that their intervening in the case was “to ensure that this complaint receives full consideration and that the law is not quietly nullified by inaction.”
“His intervention preserves the right to seek judicial review if the board fails to act, promoting transparency and fairness in Illinois elections,” the LJC said on its website.
