Chicago School Board Presidential Contest Sees Record Fundraising Surge After Contribution Limits Removed

This story was published in partnership with Chalkbeat Chicago.

Campaign fundraising in the race to serve on Chicago's first fully elected school board is picking up momentum, with $1.8 million raised since last October and contribution caps now lifted in the competition for president.

A WBEZ and Chalkbeat analysis of money candidates received from Oct. 1, 2025 to June 30 found the majority of that total – $1.2 million — went to people running to lead the 21-member board. The board president is the only member who is elected citywide.

Attorney Victor Henderson gave himself half-a-million dollars in loans, which lifted donation limits for all five candidates vying for the president role. These candidates have done the most fundraising, with the exception of former Chicago Teachers Union organizer Hilario Dominguez, who has reported no donations so far. The other candidates for president are Jessica Biggs, Jennifer Custer and Sendhil Revuluri.

Seventeen school board candidates have brought in less than $10,000 and nine did not file a report for the period from April 1 to June 30. Illinois law requires that candidates begin reporting campaign money once they've raised or spent $5,000.

The sizable early donations point to the historic nature of the race. In November, for the first time, Chicago residents will elect all 21 members of the school board, which is currently half-appointed by the mayor and half-elected. For three decades before that, the mayor controlled the board.

Although the school board president does not get to vote on board decisions unless there is a tie, that person plays an outsize role in helping set the board agenda and the tone during meetings. Sean Harden, a Mayor Brandon Johnson appointee who serves in the role now, is not running for the seat.

It’s no surprise that fundraising for that role is heating up, said Hal Woods of the education advocacy group Kids First Chicago.

“You need to be able to build a ground game and campaign infrastructure that covers the entire city, and you have a competitive race with really credible candidates,” he said. By looking strong early, Woods said, “You are showing the donor class you are the horse to get behind.”

Meanwhile, the CTU, the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, and other organizations that have said they plan to spend big on school board races are largely holding their fire for now, as several candidates are still facing challenges to their attempt to get on the November ballot.

The Illinois Network of Charter Schools’ war chest is by far the largest among political action committees with a stake in the election at more than $4 million. That’s fueled by sizable checks from wealthy residents, including some outside of Chicago. The charter advocacy group, which got outspent by the CTU in the 2024 school board election, hasn’t yet thrown its support behind a candidate for president or made formal endorsements in the 20 district races.

The teachers union, which is backing Dominguez for board president, brought in $500,000 since April 1. It spent about $250,000, some of it on defending candidates, including Dominguez, against challenges intended to knock them off the ballot. The CTU’s coffers get replenished with union dues.

The Illinois Network of Charter Schools and two other political committees, the Common Ground Collective and The Urban Center, have been bolstered by big donations from Paul Finnegan, the chairman of the private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners.

Since April, campaign records show Finnegan, whose address is listed in Evanston, has given almost $1 million to seven school board candidates, including Custer and Biggs, and a handful of political groups interested in the school board race.

Fundraising push heats up in board president race

Illinois campaign law limits individual contributions to candidates to $7,300, while corporations and labor unions can contribute up to $14,600. But if a candidate contributes more than $100,000 to his or her own campaign, like Henderson did, or if a super PAC spends more than that amount in support of a candidate, those donation limits fall away for all contenders in that race.

Henderson said he decided to make a sizable loan to his campaign because “if I'm asking other people to invest, they want to know that I'm doing the same thing.” Henderson also said his campaign staff suggested that he do it and, since he’s never run for elected office before, he listened to them. He now has a commanding fundraising lead with about $659,000 between his loans and donations from supporters.

Henderson, who is a member of the Urban Prep Charter School network’s board, said he has met with some of the political action committees, including those of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools and CTU, and would be happy to take donations from them.

But he wants special interest groups to know that, regardless of whether they donate to him, he wants to work “with them” not “for them.”

“I’m not going to carry anybody's water,” he said. “There's too much politics in CPS, and that's not the right thing to do.”

Other candidates for president said they are not daunted by Henderson’s campaign cash.

Biggs, a current board member, raised just over $154,000 as of June 30, most of it in smaller contributions from individuals. She said she didn’t think the lifting of contribution limits in the hotly contested race would shift the dynamics considerably.

“I’m continuing to build the broadest coalition possible,” she said. “It’s what this moment calls for.”

Biggs was outspent roughly 10-to-1 in her South Side district in 2024, but handily won her current seat representing district 6b, which includes Bronzeville, Hyde Park, and other neighborhoods.

Sendhil Revuluri, a former vice president of the board appointed by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, also said he didn’t expect the lifting of the spending cap to make a major difference. He has raised more than $311,000 so far, including $68,000 that he loaned to his own campaign. He said he tapped his broad professional network to get other donations from across the country.

Still, Revuluri said his campaign is focused on student outcomes and experiences.

“The money is not the goal,” he said. “It’s a means to reach voters and get my message across.”

Custer, an incumbent board member who represents parts of Chicago’s Far Northwest Side, also raised mostly small amounts from individual donors. She says she was surprised the limit was blown so early, but she expected the race would be an expensive one.

“To commit in a citywide race, you are going to need a significant amount of money,” she said. Like other candidates, she says she’ll take money from PACs as long as they know that her “north star is always what's good for the children”

Dominguez, the CTU’s pick for president, has not reported any donations or expenses. He said he’s going to do his best to raise enough money to compete, but, in the end, he’s hoping that “people power” will fuel his campaign. He said he and his team will be “hitting those doors hard.”

“We're always going to have to rely on the organized power of moms, of educators, of students,” he said.

Special interest groups prepare to spend big

A number of organizations with connections to Chicago Public Schools are gearing up to jump into the political fray, including the race for school board president.

Andrew Broy, executive director of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, said the group plans to make endorsements in August and then start spending more.

“We want to be competitive in all the races where we see a pathway to victory,” he said.

He said the citywide presidential race will be expensive, estimating that the cost of mailers and other outreach to voters across the city would easily surpass $1 million.

In the 2024 school board race, the CTU’s two political action committees spent $4.3 million on races, but rather than donate directly to candidates, they spent a lot hiring companies to create mailers, conduct surveys, and organize canvassing in support of particular candidates. CTU announced 15 endorsements earlier this week and chose to sit out six races.

Service Employees International Union Local 73, which represents support staff in CPS, also announced their endorsements this week. After decades of being seen as allies, SEIU has recently had some public disagreements with CTU, including over who represents school support staff.

In the 13 races where SEIU endorsed candidates, only four are also endorsed by the CTU. Some, like Che “Rhymefest” Smith and Angel Guiterrez, have consistently voted against the current school board majority, which is aligned with CTU.

Dian Palmer, president of SEIU Local 73, one of three SEIU local affiliates in Illinois, said the union was not going to endorse a presidential candidate, but they are now considering backing someone. She’s hopeful her union can help balance some of the big-money interests getting involved in the race with door-knocking and member donations.

“The amount of money is mind-boggling,” she said.

SEIU’s two PACs had about $719,000 on hand at the end of June.

Other groups are starting to dip their toes in the school board races. The Common Ground Collective, led by staffers from former CPS CEO Pedro Martinez’s cabinet, has made some donations to incumbents who are up for reelection, including Biggs and Custer.

Rooted & Ready, a PAC affiliated with U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, a CTU ally who represents parts of Chicago and the west suburbs, cut $3,500 checks to school board candidates Claudia Perlata, Jason Dónes, and incumbent Norma Rios Sierra, all endorsed by the CTU. The group hasn’t yet made contributions in the president’s race.

This story has been corrected to include contributions that were inadvertently omitted in the process of analyzing campaign finance data from the Illinois State Board of Elections website. It also has been corrected to include the accurate school board district that Jessica Biggs represents.

Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org.

Sarah Karp covers education for WBEZ. Contact Sarah at skarp@wbez.org.