The hearing officer in State Senate President Don Harmon’s appeal of a $9.8 million fine imposed by the Illinois State Board of Elections has filed a report with the ISBE recommending that Harmon be required to forfeit more than $4 million in campaign contributions and pay an additional $5.8 million fine.
This story was first reported today by the Chicago Tribune.
In June the ISBE levied the fine against Harmon’s political campaign fund after finding that Harmon had taken in roughly $4 million more than allowed under state campaign finance law.
The $9.8 million figure arrived at by the ISBE consists of a payment to the state’s general fund equal to the approximately $4 million Harmon allegedly raised in excess of the contribution limits, plus a fine calculated at 150% of excess contributions.
In her 15-page report (See full report end of story) Northbrook attorney Barbara Goodman found that Harmon had “failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the assessment was in error or that no actual violation of (the law) occurred.”
In particular, Goodman noted that four times in the past, Harmon’s political campaign committee had followed the ISBE’s concept of “election cycles,” but failed to do so in the most recent instance.
“The evidence presented establishes that the committee knew that the periods of time for the lifting of self-funding limits were governed by election cycles. Nonetheless, the committee for the first time, either changed its interpretation of the time period for the lifting of the contribution limits or simply chose to ignore them,” Goodman wrote.
“The statute did not change. The candidate and committee’s conduct inexplicably changed when it did not file a Notification of Self-Funding after the March 19, 2024 election and no cognizable justification was given for its failure to do so.”
Goodman noted that the ISBE wrote the Harmon campaign in March, 2025, informing it that the campaign had 30 days to return an excess $4,074,050 in contributions or donate it to charity, or face up to a 150% fine on top of the $4 million forfeiture.
Harmon’s campaign, Goodman wrote, “failed to comply with the terms of the division’s March 19, 2025 letter and was subsequently advised in a June 4, 2025 letter that a civil penalty would be assessed in the total amount of $9,846,475.”
Harmon’s attorney, veteran elections lawyer Michael Kasper, made his arguments to Goodman at an appeal hearing on Aug. 20. He argued that the caps should have remained off until the next time Harmon actually ran for office.
“I don’t think anyone ever intended for the caps to be put back on in the middle of an election,” Kasper told Goodman, arguing that the funding cap should have remained off until at least the 2024 general election, and possibly longer, through the next time that Harmon is actually on the ballot.
Noting that a key clause in the statute reads “all candidates for that office,” Kasper said, “The first opportunity someone can be a candidate for that office is March 17, 2026.”
Goodman clearly did not buy that argument, writing that Kasper “has made some interesting albeit unsupported arguments regarding interpretation of Section 9-8.5(h).”
She found that “The sole issue presented here is how long the contribution limits remained lifted under Section 9-8.5(h) subsequent to Harmon’s Notification of Self-Funding.”
The ISBE will hold a hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 10 a.m. The hearing will take place in both the ISBE’s Chicago and Springfield offices and will be live streamed on YouTube.
The elections board, which is appointed by the Governor, has four Democrats and four Republicans. Any decision will require agreement by five members of the board, with at least one member of both parties approving any motion.
ISBE spokesman Matt Dietrich said General Counsel Marni Malowitz will make her recommendation publicly before the board, and board members will question her and possibly Kasper.
“Usually, the General Counsel agrees with the hearing officer,” Dietrich said following the August hearing. “But not always.”
The full board will then deliberate publicly and entertain motions for action. Board members can make any number of motions that will then be voted on individually.
If the ISBE votes against Harmon’s appeal, or if it deadlocks 4-4, Harmon can then appeal their decision in state circuit court.
Tom Bowen, a spokesperson for Harmon’s political operation, told the Chicago Tribune that the Harmon campaign was “confident in our legal interpretation of this matter and look forward to presenting our arguments at the next phase of this process.”