Firms linked to 2 men convicted of public corruption have gotten campaign business from JB Pritzker and the CTU

According to Chalkbeat's Illinois Answers Project, Gov. JB Pritzker's reelection campaign and the Chicago Teachers Union have paid substantial consulting fees to firms connected to men with public corruption convictions. One firm is led by Bamani Obadele, who pleaded guilty in twenty ten to a scheme in which he steered state contractors to purchase items from a company he owned, overcharging them for personal profit. His firm received more than one point two million dollars from Pritzker's gubernatorial campaigns. The other is connected to Isaac Carothers, a former Chicago alderman convicted of accepting home improvements and other gifts from developers seeking his approval for building projects. Carothers' consulting firm has earned more than four hundred twenty thousand dollars from Pritzker's campaign. The Chicago Teachers Union has also hired both firms, spending more than thirty-six thousand dollars for work supporting school board candidates, including candidate Hilario Dominguez in what's described as a contested race. When questioned, Pritzker's campaign said it hires experienced community organizers; the union noted that other politicians also use the same vendors. But the reporting shows both men have served prison sentences and were ordered to repay money to the state, which raises questions about how these arrangements align with stated commitments to ethical governance.

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