Mr. B looks at a 'transparent' candidate

I recently received a note from Karina Villa, a candidate for state representative in the 49th District of the Illinois House of Representatives.

The 49th District takes in parts of DuPage and Kane counties, including portions of Batavia, where I reside. Not familiar with Villa? Neither was I until I found a campaign piece with her name, photo and signature at my front door. It was an adequate piece, but one important item was missing—Villa’s party affiliation. Nothing in the piece identified her as a Democrat or Republican.

So I visited Villa's website, where I expected her party affiliation to be clearly stated at every posted page. Nope. Nothing there either. So, here’s a political candidate that doesn’t want us to know which political party she represents. It was an interesting omission, particularly when considering Villa lists “transparency” as a top priority.

A visit to with the Illinois State Board Elections website provided access to several documents Villa’s campaign filed with the state. Villa is in fact a Democrat, according to a report filed by Citizens For Karina Villa, her campaign committee.

Campaign disclosure reports filed with election officials stated Villa’s organization had a little more than $68,600 on June 30, the deadline for filing quarterly campaign reports. Contributors to Villa’s effort during the reporting period included several individuals, a few unions, and the Democratic Party of Illinois, according to the report. Two items in the quarterly report caught my attention.

The Committee to Elect Victor French, a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 14th Congressional District in the 2018 primary, donated $4,600 to Villa’s campaign. French, a public high school teacher, finished fourth in a field of seven candidates. Lauren Underwood won the primary contest.

Villa’s campaign made two payments of $3,250 each, one in May, the second in June, to Jason Arredondo. The payments were made for staff and consulting work, according to Villa’s report. Arredondo is a managing partner at Prevailing Priorities, a Chicago-based consulting firm, according to his page at Linkedin.com

I do not know if Arredondo advised Villa to omit her party affiliation from her campaign material and website. However, the omission appears to be part of a strategy to avoid identifying Villa as a Democrat running in a traditionally Republican district. It is a common tactic, but I think it a deceitful one.

Villa’s website homepage promotes her as a “fresh start” and a “new voice,” but in my view she relies on the tired old campaign tricks we’ve come to expect from Illinois politicians. And there's nothing fresh, new, or appealing about any of that. —Thanks for reading. Please email questions and feedback to kbottswrites@gmail.com.