Kane County Reporter

Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker donated $1 million each from his reelection campaign to the campaigns of then-State Supreme Court candidates Mary O'Brien and Elizabeth Rochford, both of whom won their elections, a recent release from The Center Square said.

Later, in 2022, Pritzker signed a law capping campaign contribution limits to $500,000 from "any single person," the release said. He is now a defendant in the Macon County gun-ban challenge set to be held in front of the Illinois Supreme Court.

Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch (D-Hillside) is another top donor to the justices, with the "People for Emanuel Chris Welch" fund donating $350,000 to O'Brien and $150,000 to Rochford. Welch is also a defendant in both the gun-ban challenge and the challenge against the state's no-cash bail law, which is currently on hold and pending appeal.

The Illinois Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the no-cash bail case on Tuesday. It is currently unknown if O'Brien and Rochford will recuse themselves, although justices can be listed as "took no part" in certain cases when opinions are issued.

“If we don’t have confidence in the opinions the judicial branch issues then our judicial branch is failing,” Chris Forsyth, executive director of the Judicial Integrity Project, told The Center Square. “Political donations can lead to issues of judicial integrity and the United States Supreme Court has said so. In some cases, they have found political donations to be so grave that there is a conflict of interest that is impermissible.”