State Sen. Napoleon Harris recently cut his main campaign fund a check for $23,459.30, reimbursing the political account for what appeared to be a series of personal expenses that stretched, if not breached, the bounds of what’s allowable under election law.
While Harris didn’t identify the questionable expenses covered by the refund to his Friends of Napoleon Harris fund, his attorney mentioned in a December email to the Illinois State Board of Elections what it would likely cover:
- Payments to Forest Ridge Academy “totaling $10,490.63, in full,” according to the email from Evergreen Park lawyer Burt Odelson, to the state agency that regulates campaign matters. At least one of Harris’ children was believed to have attended the private school in Schererville, in northwest Indiana.
- Payments “made at retail stores totaling to $4,433.04 (Neiman Marcus $2,114.26) (Nordstrom $1,452.08) (Saks Fifth Ave $866.70), in full.” Some of his department store expenses, reportedly for clothing, were made just before Christmas in Oak Brook.
- “$5,136.05 spent at Rizza Cadillac, in full.” Located in Tinley Park, this was just one of the car dealers Harris’ fund was making payments to.
That total cited by Odelson in the email amounted to just over $20,000, and he declined to explain the difference between that amount and what ended up being reimbursed on or about Aug. 27.
But Odelson emailed the elections board again on that date, saying:
“Sen. Harris was previously doing his own reporting and believed all expenditures from the campaign account were acceptable expenditures on behalf of the committee, his campaign or his official public duties.”
“I was retained to do an internal review of his expenditures and advised him that the above amount should be reimbursed back to the committee. Although the Election Code provides a guide as to allowable expenditures to a candidate or elected official for proper use, there are grey areas subject to interpretation.”
“Sen. Harris wishes to be transparent and ensure all of his actions are totally in compliance with the law. Thus, in order to prevent any confusion or belief that committee funds were not properly used, the above reimbursement is being made. An appropriate Schedule A-1 report will also be timely filed.”
State and local political figures and funds are required to file regular disclosure reports about who is giving them money and how they’re spending it. Those reports are available to the public through an online elections board database.
The recent refund
The Chicago Sun-Times reported in 2024 that Harris, a Flossmoor Democrat who’s part of the leadership team under state Senate President Don Harmon, an Oak Park Democrat, appeared to be treating his campaign fund like a personal piggy bank.
Harris, a former NFL player, acknowledged mistakes and pledged to rectify things.
Generally, campaign money for state or federal political figures isn’t supposed to be used on personal expenses.
More specifically, Illinois election statute says, “A political committee shall not make expenditures” for “clothing or personal laundry expenses, except clothing items rented by the public official or candidate for his or her own use exclusively for a specific campaign-related event, provided that committees may purchase costumes, novelty items or other accessories worn primarily to advertise the candidacy.”
But the same law also grants wide leeway to political figures on spending, saying, “Nothing in this section prohibits the expenditure of funds of a political committee controlled by an officeholder or by a candidate to defray the customary and reasonable expenses of an officeholder in connection with the performance of governmental and public service functions.”
Federal law could apply, though, if a political figure were to use campaign money on personal expenses and not pay income tax on that money.
Context and communication
State law allows campaign funds to pay for vehicle leases if vehicles are “primarily” used for political or governmental purposes and not as a family car. There are no restrictions on how much can be spent for those leases or the type of vehicle.
A legislator since 2013 who also is now the elected Thornton Township supervisor and a Democratic committeeman, Harris has long derived income from a company that runs a Beggars Pizza franchise in Harvey. His campaign has reported paying the restaurant more than $50,000 over the years for what’s been described as rent, “reading program vouchers” and meals for constituents.
It’s unclear whether any part of the recent reimbursement involved the restaurant.