More than $270,000 of Pat Hynes’ donations come from real estate interests; one in four donors are property tax appeal lawyers 

Chicago — Pat Hynes has received more than $270,000 from the real estate industry in his bid for Cook County Assessor, accounting for one-third of his total campaign donations, according to a review of his campaign finance records. This includes more than $87,000 from property tax attorneys and appraisers. 

Property tax appeal lawyers make up the single largest share of Hynes’ donor base. Of his 284 donors, 69 are property tax lawyers, meaning one in four people writing checks to Pat Hynes’ campaign are lawyers who would benefit from his decisions as Assessor, if he is elected. 

Prior to 2018, the Cook County Assessor’s office was notorious for pay-to-play corruption, where property tax appeal lawyers would donate to the Assessor in exchange for favorable assessments on their clients’ properties, costing homeowners billions of dollars. This past year, appeals given out to big commercial properties drove up property tax bills for Chicago homeowners by an average of $700, with many homeowners paying more.  

“Pat Hynes is being bankrolled by the same special interests driving up everyone’s property tax bills,” said Sophia Escobedo, campaign manager for Assessor Fritz Kaegi. “When big developers get tax breaks they don’t deserve, working class homeowners have to pay more to make up for it. Fritz Kaegi cleaned up decades of corruption in the Assessor’s office, and now the property tax lawyers are propping up Pat to bring the old system back. We can’t afford to let the fox guard the henhouse.”

Hynes' real estate donors include mega-landlords, charter school profiteers, and executives who have faced federal penalties, criminal charges, and ethics investigations. The contributions raise questions about whether Hynes would return to the old pay-to-play system that allowed well-connected insiders to manipulate property assessments.

Since taking office, Assessor Fritz Kaegi has refused to accept donations from tax appeal attorneys and appraisers with business before his office. Kaegi implemented strict ethics reforms on his first day in office, banning pay-to-play donations, outside gifts, and nepotism hires. Assessor Kaegi's reforms have shifted nearly $2 billion in property tax burden from homeowners to commercial properties, reversing decades of unfair assessments that benefited corporations and wealthy developers.