Dupage Policy Journal

Leftist PAC, Naperville Forward, has officially shut down in the wake of an election board complaint, citing financial constraints as a barrier to mounting a defense.

The committee filed its final report and termination notice with the Illinois State Board of Elections, accompanied by a statement addressing the circumstances leading to their decision.


“The committee has decided to file its final report and terminate because it cannot afford to defend against the campaign finance complaint filed against it,”  Naperville Forward said in a clarification filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

“The committee believes it fully complied with the Illinois Election Code, and it did not coordinate with any candidates in producing the mailers identified as independent expenditures. However, as the complaint discovery process began, we realized as a committee of essentially two people with limited resources, we are unable to defend ourselves.”

“We also believe that the discovery is intended to discover material unrelated to the campaign finance complaint for political purposes. We have chosen not to amend our quarterly reports identifying certain mailers as independent expenditures because we stand by that categorization and believe it is appropriate.”

Naperville Forward's final expenditure report revealed that the PAC spent $6,680.18 and had no remaining funds.

Naperville Forward was very active in the 2023 municipal elections.

The campaign featured controversy after Kevin Coyne, a former Naperville Councilman who operates Safe Suburbs PAC, and others called out then-Councilwoman Theresa Sullivan over a Naperville Forward mailer for misleading voters.

The mailer warned locals "they'll decide what book you and your kids can read!" despite there being no evidence of any such efforts of support of book bans by local candidates.

“Exactly zero local candidates have voiced any support for banning books. Our libraries are not being pursued by any local groups or candidates seeking to ban books. There are also no book ban controversies now - or known to be coming - before the Naperville Library Board. This mailer, sent by the group Naperville Forward (chaired by Naperville City Councilwoman Theresa Sullivan), is a complete fabrication. Every word of this mailer is a lie,” Coyne said at the time.

“It is one thing to engage in some puffery during election season. It is something else entirely to outright lie about people. This mailer was an attempt to deceive voters and to incite outrage and angst amongst our residents. The lowest form of campaigning.”

Sullivan’s candidates showed poorly in that race.

Then Mayor Steve Chirico opined Sullivan was engaging in “dirty politics” after Naperville Forward created and distributed the mailer.

Chirico said Sullivan should be censured for the mailer as book bans were clearly not happening in Naperville or being advocated for on a local level.

“In my view, the mailer that has been talked about here was inappropriate. It's dirty politics. It was done by a member of a city council. It's a bad reflection on all of us. It's a bad reflection on our city. Doesn't belong in Naperville or any local election. And it's very unfortunate,” Chirico said.

Sullivan later told the Daily Herald the mailer was designed and created by a consulting firm and that it should have been worded differently to not make it appear candidates were calling for book bans.

No candidates in the targeted races had publicly discussed such bans.

Chirico further admonished Sullivan after it was revealed she had obscured union funding of the PAC.

“Union money went into the PAC, a PAC that you control, and it was not disclosed before a vote,” Chirico said.