Since TNS reported last week on the late flow of money from big retailers to aldermen opposed to Chicago's living-wage law, corporate donors have added almost $60,000 in campaign funds for Tuesday's City Council election.
Wal-Mart sent another $50,000 into the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce's pockets the day before voters went to the polls. The Chamber took over the lead in doling out corporate cash from the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. IRMA threw in only $5,000 more to a candidate who voted against last summer's living-wage bill, while the Chamber split $51,500 between seven incumbents and a challenger since Thursday.
The Chamber also gave $3,500 to supporters of the living-wage bill.
All told, Wal-Mart and Target channeled $130,000 to the two trade groups in the two weeks before the election, and those groups spent at least $170,000 on friendly aldermen since January. More disclosures are likely because candidates have two business days to report contributions, and some incumbents have been slow to report the corporate cash.