628,245.32 Reasons Gene Schulter is a Favorite to Replace Rahm

[A couple of readers, including James below, have pointed out that Schulter is limited in how he can use his funds;  the money Feigenholtz raised last quarter has no such restrictions.]

In an ongoing attempt to track the race to replace Rahm Emanuel in Illinois’ Fifth Congressional District, a look into who might have the most money squirreled away. It’s not Sara Feigenholtz, who had $313,000 in her bank as of October 5 and says she raised $300,000 before the end of the year–presumably in addition to what she had on had in October. Nor is it Mike Quigley, who reported $492,000 as of June 30. No, it’s 33-year veteran Chicago alderman Gene Schulter of the 47th Ward. According to his most recent report filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections, Schulter had more than $628,000 as of June 30. Of course, these three and other candidates, and others, have been raising funds over the last few weeks. Feigenholtz has a snazzy web and twitter presence; labor lawyer Tom Geoghegan has quickly become the darling of the “Net Roots” and non-Chicago lefties such as, most recently, Katha Pollit. But Schulter would seem to have a significant head start in the money race, not to mention a veteran campaign machinery. (As Schulter’s entry at Cloutwiki points out, the long-running feud  he eventually won over his former mentor Ed Kelly means he  “is thought to maintain one of the strongest campaign organizations in the city.”