Pay-to-Play: Aurora Austriaco Dodges Truth
Fails to Disclose $1.4 Million in State Contracts for Generous Blagojevich Donations in Sun-Times Questionnaire

October 27, 2008

Des Plaines, IL -– Raising alarming new questions about the extent of her relationship with Governor Rod Blagojevich, 65th District Democrat candidate Aurora Austriaco intentionally submitted a blank response to a question from the Chicago Sun-Times regarding whether or not she has been the beneficiary of any government contracts.

The Sun-Times specifically asked Austriaco to “please list jobs or contracts you, members of your immediate family or business partners have had with government”; to which she gave no response. In truth, Aurora Austriaco and her Chicago law firm have been awarded $1.4 million in state contracts in exchange for generous campaign contributions to Rod Blagojevich totaling in excess of $109,000.

“This is another troubling indication that Ms. Austriaco is being less than truthful about how much she has personally profited from her cozy financial relationship with the Governor,” Rep. Mulligan said. “Rather than use this opportunity to clarify her position, Austriaco chose instead to ignore it.”

In addition, Austriaco told the Sun-Times that the single largest contributor to her campaign was her sister, Maripa Abella, who donated $8,000. However, Austriaco failed to disclose the literally tens of thousands of dollars that the Democratic Party of Illinois has spent on her behalf, an organization controlled by House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago).

Austriaco also declined to note a $116K cable television advertising buy made for her campaign in early October, saturating the airwaves with negative and misleading distortions of Rep. Rosemary Mulligan’s distinguished record of service to the community.

“In the corrupt pay-to-play culture of the Blagojevich Administration, voters have the right to know whether or not candidates for office are benefiting from state contracts awarded at taxpayer expense. Aurora Austriaco’s deafening silence on this issue continues to leave more questions than answers,” Rep. Mulligan said.

Aurora Austriaco and her law partners at Peck, Bloom, Austriaco & Mitchell LLC, have donated $109,495 to Rod Blagojevich’s political campaign since September 2002, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. The Blagojevich Administration has rewarded Austriaco generously with $1.46 million in state contracts beginning in 2004, according to Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes’ reports.

To view Aurora Austriaco’s response to the Sun-Times candidate questionnaire, please visit the enclosed link to the page on the Sun-Times website: http://www.suntimes.com/images/cds/endorsements/Austriaco.pdf