In the 2019-2020 election cycle, U.S Representative of Illinois’s 3rd Congressional District, Marie Newman spent $1,040,720 in media advertisement and distributions alone to Buying Time LLC — over one-third of her total expenditures.
This advertising agency in Washington D.C is one of the most well-known political advertisement hubs in the nation. She devoted this large amount of money to Buying Time LLC when she was running against Republican opponent Mike Fricilone. Their views about abortion rights, LGBTQ rights and how finances should be handled for the working class differed greatly. Newman depended greatly on advertising as she ran for her position during a time when in person speeches could not be made due to the pandemic.
Following her win against Fricilone, Newman spoke in November 2020 on how she planned to provide relief from the COVID- 19 pandemic to working families.
“As we begin to rebuild, we’re going to work together to lower health care costs, fight climate change, create new good-paying jobs, revitalize our transportation infrastructure system and continue to make a strong economy no matter who you are or where you are,” Newman said after her win.
After beating Fricilone, Newman’s advertising expenditures lowered immensely at the start of the 2021-2022 cycle. She has spent $25,000 at Buying Time LLC so far.
Break Something LLC has become Newman’s largest expenditure of the 2021-2022 cycle to date. She spent $40,000 to receive aid from this digital advertising and consulting service for democrats. The company is known for helping candidates with their online presence and obtaining online donations towards “democratic causes creating change” according to the sites “Who We Are” page.
This explains Newman’s next expenditure action of spending $12,120 at ActBlue. ActBlue is a software company that services left-leaning nonprofits and candidates to allow donors to use online donation sites geared specifically for that candidate.
One of Newman’s focuses during her campaign was to provide financial help to small and medium businesses. Her second-largest expenditure in the 2019-2020 cycle was $522,171 to the payroll company Paychex. The company based in Rochester, New York is in good standing with over 670,000 payroll clients in the U.S and Europe. Newman continued to use Paychex in the 2021-2022 cycle at $10,563 towards their organization so far.
Newman also spent $11,179 of her campaign money to the Frost Group this cycle. This political consulting firm based in Washington D.C helps political figures with fundraising advice. They specialize in expanding the client’s donor base, national fundraising, event planning and social media advice.
Newman’s greatest contributor is the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which donated $7,500 to Newman in the 2021-2022 cycle. The IBEW is a labor union that has been around for years representing current and retired electrical workers around the world and protecting their worker rights.
Of her many contributors are the Women Count PAC, a nonprofit political organization whose mission is to elect more democratic women into office. It donated $5,800 to Newman and her campaign team.
Newman and a team of several other representatives in total were able to raise $1.1 million for Education and Small businesses in 2021 to improve the 3rd District of Illinois. They also were able to raise $3.2 million for healthcare and community programs which will also aid the district.
Going along with Newman’s mission to be inclusive of all races, genders and ethnicities, her third-largest expenditure went to the organization Do Big Things. She spent $378,744 in the 2019-2020 cycle using their “women owned, and women led” services to create digital stories that are meant to impact the community.
The organization prides itself on 50% of its staff being people of color. She used their services to aid with her campaign against Fricilone, and she was able to gain 53.2% of the votes which put her merely 6.4% ahead of Fricilone.
Newman has maintained her promise to fight for the working class during her time in office. Newman raised $2.8 million in the 2019-2020 cycle which was above the average raised by house members at $2.64 million.
On October 6, 2021, Newman tweeted, “It’s time Washington focused on cutting costs for working families instead of for the largest corporations.” This has been a main theme of her work during her time as U.S Representative.
Since last reported on September 30, 2021 by the FEC. Newman has reported to have raised $676,216 and spent $341,184 in the 2021-2022 cycle. She still has $10,642 in debt to pay.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation donated to Newman’s campaign. This was actually an individual donation, as the foundation does not and can not make political donations.