Disgraced ex-Ald. Edward M. Burke has been out of elected office since May 2023 and out of prison since summer after a conviction on corruption charges and hasn’t been actively raising campaign money.
But his campaign coffers stand to grow nonetheless, and one of Burke’s campaign accounts could still someday provide him with a huge personal windfall.
Convicted in 2023 in a racketeering and bribery case, Burke is allowed to pocket roughly $2.4 million from one of his campaign funds, Friends of Edward M. Burke, and spend that money on virtually anything he’d like — political or not.
Burke, who long represented the Southwest Side’s 14th Ward, is one of about 100 current and former political figures, or their heirs, who are allowed to still convert campaign money — whatever they had in their accounts on June 30, 1998, when a law changed — to personal use.
And out of all of them, Burke stands to benefit the most, according to a Chicago Sun-Times examination.
Burke can legally pocket about $1 million more than what ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-Chicago) stands to keep, as another beneficiary of the little-known grandfather clause despite his own corruption conviction earlier this year.
Beyond that, another one of Burke’s campaign funds — the Burnham Committee — continues to grow because of interest and dividends that have totaled more than $150,000 since Burke left the City Council following his indictment.
While that fund reports nearly $2 million on hand and apparently no investments beyond a bank account, Friends of Edward M. Burke has done what some of the more savvy and cash-rich Illinois political figures do: invest part of its holdings, garnering returns that help grow or replenish accounts without the need to fundraise.
That campaign account has around $140,000 in cash on hand, but nearly $8 million invested — more than any of the 100 or so campaign accounts currently with investments reported to the Illinois State Board of Elections, a government agency regulating campaign giving and spending.
Since the mid-1990s, Burke’s campaign funds have collectively reported more than $862,000 in interest or dividends from a total of six banks, including Rosemont-based Wintrust, according to disclosure records filed with the elections board.
The Burnham Committee reported “Interest/Dividends received” totaling more than $50,000 from Wintrust in 2025 alone, according to the agency.
Normal bank accounts can earn interest, and there are no restrictions in Illinois election law as to what can be invested in — even cryptocurrency — but in Burke’s case it isn’t clear where he put that money. Records aren’t specific, and he couldn’t be reached, while a top campaign aide declined to comment.
But other funds do provide some detail on investments, whether they involve certificates of deposit, mutual funds, securities or something else.
All told, campaign funds overseen by the elections board had more than $25.2 million invested as of the end of September, records show.
Friends of Michael J. Madigan, which has $6 million on hand, reports no current investments.
Matt Dietrich, an elections board spokesman, says the logic on investing may boil down to: “You’ve got that money in the committee … you’re making your money work for your campaign fund without having to go out and actively fundraise.”
But Dietrich observed that many campaign committees are “generally spending . . . as quickly as they get it,” as they are often small in comparison to those with money amassed by veterans such as Burke and Madigan.
Keeping money in traditional bank accounts allows campaign money to be more liquid — easily accessible, given that some investments, such as CDs, can have lengthy terms and penalties if cashed in before a certain date.
One curious take on investments involves Lyons Mayor Chris Getty, the Sun-Times found. He borrowed $245,000 from his campaign fund this year, using the money to pay his income tax debts with the Internal Revenue Service.
His campaign fund listed the loan as an investment, telling state elections officials the money is invested in Getty himself.
After Friends of Edward M. Burke, records show:
- A political action committee associated with the Pipe Fitters union had about $2.3 million invested;
- A campaign fund for state Rep. Jay Hoffman, a Downstate Democrat, had nearly $1.3 million invested. Hoffman explained, “The investments are in short-term CDs simply to provide interest income in addition to funds raised. Since they are short-term, the campaign funds would be available when needed.”
- A PAC affiliated with the Illinois State Medical Society has just over $1 million invested.
Madigan’s campaigns reported no investments. Nor did a campaign account for his daughter, former Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, whose fund still holds $2 million even though she’s been out of office since early 2019.
A former state senator who was elected with significant help from her father and his political apparatus, Lisa Madigan is allowed to pocket more than $100,000 for personal use from her fund.
Three once-powerful politicians who are now dead — former state Senate President James “Pate” Philip (R-Wood Dale), former Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka and former Gov. Jim Edgar — still have active campaign funds with a total of nearly $500,000 that’s allowed to be converted to personal use by their estates, according to records and interviews.
One reason many political figures may not cash out quickly even if able: that money would be considered income when converted to personal use and therefore subject to taxes.
Since 2000, at least 40 political figures have cashed in part or all of their campaign funds to the tune of around $3 million in total, records show.
They include:
- Former Ald. Walter Burnett (27th), who converted nearly $8,000 in campaign money to personal use in August when he left the City Council and closed his campaign fund. In 2022, the Sun-Times reported that Burnett claimed to have invested $375,000 from his campaign since 1999. Burnett hasn’t been able to explain what happened to at least $165,000.
- Former DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin, who converted more than $80,000 of his campaign money to personal use last year and previously served in the Illinois General Assembly. He left the county board in 2022 and wouldn’t answer questions, including why he decided to cash in now and what he used the money for. But he said, “I paid taxes on this; it was included on my 2024 personal, joint income tax return.”
- Former Ald. William Banks, the once-powerful chairman of the Chicago City Council’s Zoning Committee that’s a gatekeeper to many real estate developments, cashed in nearly $300,000 in 2018. He retired in 2009 from representing the 36th Ward that includes part of the Northwest Side.
Convicted in December 2023, Burke “corruptly solicited work for his private law firm from companies involved in redevelopment projects at the Old Main Post Office in downtown Chicago and a Burger King restaurant on the city’s Southwest Side,” according to prosecutors.
For years, Burke also solicited and accepted campaign money from those wanting something from City Hall, including the City Council’s powerful Finance Committee that he oversaw.
Since 1995, Burke’s three main campaign accounts have collectively raised more than $27 million, records show.
Since Burke’s legal troubles began, his campaign funds have spent more than $3.5 million on attorney fees.
That money doesn’t appear to be counted by his campaigns as a personal expense. The elections board allows campaign money to be used by politicians for criminal defense in many instances.