National Political Machine Running Local Politics
SubX.News® Political Investigation
Mayor Brandon Johnson relied on national political consultants and outside companies to build the operation that helped him take control of Chicago’s City Hall.
Part One of Carpetbagger Central begins a continuing SubX.News® investigation into the political transplants, union organizations, national consultants and connected insiders operating around Chicago government.
SubX.News® will document who built this political network, how it operates, when it gained power and how much it is costing Chicago.
Our investigation will follow the campaign money behind Johnson and the public money distributed after his political operation entered City Hall.
Those two streams of money are separate.
Campaign expenditures are not taxpayer spending.
But campaign money identifies the organizations, consultants and insiders who helped build Johnson’s political operation and who gained influence after he became mayor.
First comes the campaign money.
Friends of Brandon Johnson paid its nine largest listed recipients a combined $9,123,944.75. Five companies based outside Chicago collected $6,770,527.40, representing 74.2 percent of those payments.
Nearly three out of every four dollars went outside Chicago.
Johnson sold voters a grassroots Chicago movement.
Money reveals a national political machine.
Follow the Money
Friends of Brandon Johnson paid its nine largest listed recipients a combined $9,123,944.75, according to Illinois Sunshine campaign-finance data.
- Grassroots Media: $5,148,350.00
Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania - Technicolor Political: $1,512,972.35
National political firm using a Chicago address - GDA Wins: $871,799.16
Washington, D.C. - Lake Research Partners Inc: $325,576.15
Washington, D.C. - United Working Families PAC: $308,450.00
Chicago - Tactical Resolutions: $307,745.00
Chicago - Deliver Strategies: $259,114.93
Arlington, Virginia - Christian Perry: $224,250.00
Chicago political operative - MBA Consulting Group: $165,687.16
Washington, D.C.
https://illinoissunshine.org/committees/34198/
Five political companies based outside Chicago collected $6,770,527.40, approximately 74.2 percent of the money paid to those nine recipients.
Four Chicago-connected organizations, companies and political operatives received the remaining $2,353,417.35, or 25.8 percent.
Nearly three out of every four dollars went outside Chicago.
These were not occasional payments for minor services. The recipients helped shape Johnson’s message, produce advertisements, purchase media, conduct polling, distribute political mail and manage campaign compliance.
Johnson sold voters a grassroots Chicago movement. The money reveals a national political machine.
Who Was Watching Johnson’s Millions?
SubX.News® first raised questions about the people controlling Johnson’s campaign finances on January 19, 2023.
Lisa Schrantz, a Cook County employee who worked as an aide to Johnson while he served as 1st District commissioner, was also listed as treasurer of Friends of Brandon Johnson.
2022 campaign filing identified:
Employer: Cook County
Occupation: Executive Coordinator
Campaign position: Treasurer of Friends of Brandon Johnson
Johnson’s quarterly campaign report covering October 1 through December 31, 2022, listed:
Funds available at the beginning of the period: $1,327,877.91
Itemized transfers into the campaign: $1,793,100
Much of Johnson’s campaign money came from unions and labor-backed political organizations.
Johnson was simultaneously a Cook County commissioner, a former Chicago Teachers Union organizer and a mayoral candidate heavily financed by organized labor.
His Cook County aide was publicly listed as the officer responsible for his campaign committee while millions of union-linked dollars entered the operation.
No evidence reviewed establishes that Schrantz misappropriated money or violated an ethics law. The overlapping positions still raised an obvious question:
Who was actually controlling Johnson’s millions?
Read the original January 19, 2023 SubX.News® investigation:
https://subx.news/cook-county-employee-lisa-schrantz-in-charge-of-millions-of-teachers-union-money/
Treasurer Says She Was Not the Treasurer
The question became even more serious in August 2025.
Lisa Schrantz told the Illinois State Board of Elections that she had not participated in the financial dealings of Friends of Brandon Johnson for two years.
Schrantz said she believed she had already been removed as an officer and that a replacement treasurer had been appointed. She asked state regulators to remove her name officially.
Johnson campaign adviser Christian Perry offered a different explanation.
Perry said Schrantz remained the committee’s treasurer but was not involved in its daily financial operations. According to the campaign’s own response, an outside company was actually doing the work.
Schrantz “misspoke” when she contacted state regulators, Perry said.
Illinois State Board of Elections spokesperson said Schrantz’s last report as treasurer appeared to have been filed on October 11, 2022. Later reports were signed by other people even though she remained publicly listed as treasurer.
State rules require campaign committees to maintain a chairperson and treasurer and keep the officers’ names current. A departed officer is supposed to be replaced within 10 days.
State law also says a committee should not accept or spend money while an officer position is vacant.
Nobody provided one clear answer:
Was Lisa Schrantz the treasurer overseeing Johnson’s millions, or was an outside company actually controlling the campaign’s daily finances?
Chicago Sun-Times report:
https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/08/07/mayor-brandon-johnson-campaign-fund-treasurer-chairman-fundraising-chicago
More Than $5.1 Million Went to Pennsylvania
Grassroots Media received $5,148,350, making it the largest recipient listed in Johnson’s campaign records.
The company is headquartered in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia.
Mike D’Ettorre founded Grassroots Media in 2019. The company plans and purchases political advertising across television, radio and digital platforms.
Its national Democratic clients include campaigns and organizations connected with:
- Sen. Chuck Schumer
- Sen. Tammy Baldwin
- Former Sen. Bob Casey
- Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro
- Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker
- BlackPAC
- Climate Power
- House Majority Forward
Johnson’s committee reported its latest listed payment to Grassroots Media on March 28, 2023, shortly before Chicago’s mayoral runoff.
The full $5.15 million should not automatically be described as the company’s profit. Media-buying payments can include money later paid to television stations, radio stations and digital platforms.
However, Johnson’s campaign placed control of more than $5.1 million in political advertising money with a Pennsylvania company instead of contracting directly with Chicago media organizations.
Detailed invoices are needed to answer:
- How much did Grassroots Media retain?
- Which television and radio stations were paid?
- Which digital platforms received money?
- How much reached Chicago-owned businesses?
- Did any Black-owned Chicago media organizations receive advertising?
Johnson campaigned as a Chicago grassroots candidate.
His biggest campaign check went to a company called Grassroots Media in Pennsylvania.
Washington Political Network Collected More Than $1.6 Million
Four additional outside political firms received a combined $1,622,177.40 from Friends of Brandon Johnson.
- GDA Wins: $871,799.16
Washington, D.C. - Lake Research Partners Inc.: $325,576.15
Washington, D.C. - Deliver Strategies: $259,114.93
Arlington, Virginia - MBA Consulting Group: $165,687.16
Washington, D.C.
GDA Wins specializes in direct mail and digital advertising for Democratic candidates, labor organizations and progressive political groups.
Lake Research Partners is a national progressive polling and political-strategy firm founded by Democratic pollster Celinda Lake.
Deliver Strategies produces direct mail, political communications and campaign materials for Democratic candidates and labor organizations across the country.
MBA Consulting Group handles political accounting, campaign-finance compliance and committee operations.
Johnson’s campaign did not hire these firms for one isolated service.
The national network helped:
- Test Johnson’s political message
- Analyze voters
- Produce and distribute campaign mail
- Develop political communications
- Manage campaign accounting and compliance
Johnson presented himself as an authentic grassroots Chicago candidate, but Washington-area consultants helped build and operate the political machine behind him.
Combined with the $5,148,350 sent to Grassroots Media in Pennsylvania, these five outside firms received $6,770,527.40.
Nearly 74 cents of every dollar paid to Johnson’s nine largest listed recipients went outside Chicago.
National Political Firm Operating Through a Chicago House
Technicolor Political received $1,512,972.35 from Friends of Brandon Johnson.
The national Democratic political advertising company served as a leading creative and media-strategy firm during Johnson’s 2023 campaign.
Technicolor partner Brandon Davis has described helping Johnson rise from approximately 2 percent in early polling to winning 52 percent of the runoff vote.
Campaign records repeatedly list Technicolor Political at:
11013 S. Longwood Drive
Chicago IL 60643
Google Street View imagery from July 2022 shows what appears to be a detached residential house not a commercial advertising agency or political office.
Separate Illinois Sunshine data identified 39 political expenditures totaling $3,404,731.57 to Technicolor Political at variations of that address.
The money came from three political committees:
- Friends of Brandon Johnson: $1,512,972.35
- End Homelessness Supporting Bring Chicago Home: $1,225,534.22
- Friends for Clayton Harris III: $666,225
Total: $3,404,731.57
Residential business address is not automatically illegal or improper.
Campaign records also do not prove that the entire $3.4 million became company income or physically passed through the house.
Media payments can include money forwarded to television stations, digital platforms, production companies and subcontractors.
Questions remain:
Why was a residential-looking property used as the company’s reported address?
Was it an operating office, registered address or mailing address?
How much money did Technicolor retain?
Which broadcasters and platforms ultimately received the money?
Which subcontractors were hired?
Separate SubX.News® investigations will follow the millions reported through the Longwood Drive address.
Chicago Insiders Received the Remaining $2.35 Million
Four Chicago-connected recipients collected $2,353,417.35 from Friends of Brandon Johnson.
- Technicolor Political: $1,512,972.35
- United Working Families PAC: $308,450
- Tactical Resolutions: $307,745
- Christian Perry: $224,250
United Working Families PAC is a labor-backed progressive political organization located at 2229 S. Halsted Street in Chicago.
The organization recruits candidates, trains political organizers, manages field operations and supports progressive campaigns across Chicago and Illinois.
Tactical Resolutions is listed in state campaign records at 812 E. 47th Place in Chicago. Its reported campaign services included field work and local political operations.
Christian Perry is a Chicago political operative who served as one of Johnson’s top campaign advisers and later became his political director.
Technicolor Political used the Longwood Drive address in Chicago filings, but it operates as a national Democratic media and advertising company.
These were Chicago-connected recipients, but they were still part of the same organized political network surrounding Johnson.
They were not independent neighborhood newspapers, community radio stations or local Black news organizations reporting directly to Chicago residents.
The money remained concentrated among political consultants, labor-backed organizations and insiders connected to Johnson’s operation.
Local did not necessarily mean independent.
Local often meant politically connected.
Or maybe these were just fronts or shell organization to laundermoney.
Chicago’s Advertising Industry Was Here All Along
Chicago is not a city without advertising, media or political talent.
Chicago was once one of America’s dominant advertising capitals. By 1980, advertising had become one of the city’s largest industries:
- More than 500 advertising agencies
- Approximately 8,000 employees
- Nearly $6 billion in annual revenue
Chicago remains home to major advertising companies, independent creative professionals, production studios, political strategists, radio stations, television outlets and digital publishers.
The city also has a long history of Black-owned media serving communities frequently ignored by corporate news organizations.
Johnson’s campaign could have distributed more of its spending among:
- Chicago advertising agencies
- Black-owned newspapers
- Neighborhood radio stations
- Independent digital publishers
- Local video-production companies
- Community-based media organizations
Instead, its largest expenditure went to a Pennsylvania media buyer.
Four Washington-area political companies received another $1.62 million.
Campaign summaries do not establish that local Black media received nothing. Grassroots Media and Technicolor Political may have placed advertisements with Chicago outlets.
Detailed invoices are needed to determine:
- Which Chicago media companies were paid
- How much local media received
- Whether Black-owned outlets received advertising
- How much the national consultants retained
- Which production companies and subcontractors benefited
Chicago had the talent to perform this work.
Johnson chose a national political network to control most of the money.
Outside Network Followed Johnson Into City Hall
Johnson’s reliance on outside political insiders did not end when the campaign was over.
Jason Lee became one of Johnson’s most influential senior advisers at City Hall.
Lee is the son of the late Texas congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Questions later surfaced about whether he maintained the Chicago residency required of city employees.
Lee voted in a November 2024 special election in Houston while working as Johnson’s senior adviser.
His Illinois voter registration had previously been marked inactive and later canceled.
Johnson kept Lee in his City Hall position while the matter was examined.
Lee later faced another controversy involving an investigation by Chicago’s inspector general.
Investigation examined whether Lee threatened to withhold city assistance unless Ald. Bill Conway supported Johnson’s political agenda.
Conway had requested help clearing homeless encampments near Union Station and Ogilvie Transportation Center. Lee was simultaneously pressuring Conway to support:
- Johnson’s tipped-wage ordinance
- Bring Chicago Home referendum
Inspector General Deborah Witzburg could not determine whether Lee conditioned city services on Conway’s votes because Lee declined to answer investigators’ questions without a City Law Department attorney present.
Witzburg recommended that Johnson fire Lee for failing to cooperate.
Johnson refused.
Mayor’s office said Lee committed no wrongdoing and argued that he had a legal justification for refusing the interview.
A Texas-connected political insider helped run Johnson’s Chicago government, voted in Texas while employed by Chicago and remained in office after the city’s inspector general recommended his dismissal.
Campaign’s outside political network had moved inside City Hall.
Jason Lee Intervened in Dispute Over Millions in City Funding
Jason Lee surfaced again in 2026 when he intervened in a dispute involving Acclivus, a politically connected anti-violence nonprofit competing for millions of dollars in Chicago funding.
The dispute involved:
- Acclivus’ proposed 2026 city grant
- Audit of the organization’s data-reporting practices
- Chicago Department of Public Health
- Direct appeals to Mayor Brandon Johnson
- Intervention by Lee, one of Johnson’s closest political advisers
Records reviewed by the Chicago Tribune reportedly showed that Acclivus’ chief executive appealed directly to Johnson while disputing the size of the nonprofit’s grant and the health department’s review of its reported data.
Lee became involved in the disagreement on Acclivus’ behalf.
No evidence establishes that Lee personally received money from the nonprofit or that his intervention changed the final award.
His involvement still raised an important concern: a senior mayoral political adviser stepped into a competitive city funding dispute involving an organization with political connections to Johnson.
Campaign consultants helped build Johnson’s political operation.
Once Johnson entered City Hall, trusted advisers gained access to decisions involving legislation, city services and public money.
Separate incidents do not prove an illegal political machine. Together, they raise a question Chicago residents deserve to have answered:
Where does Johnson’s political operation end and Chicago’s government begin?
Campaign Money Is Not Taxpayer Money
Expenditures documented in this report came from a political campaign committee. They were not direct City of Chicago operating funds or taxpayer appropriations.
Campaign money still represents political power and influence.
Chicago residents, unions, political organizations and other donors financed Johnson’s rise from Cook County commissioner to mayor.
Johnson presented himself as an authentic grassroots candidate rooted in Chicago’s working-class communities.
He was born and raised in Elgin, graduated from Aurora University and later entered Chicago politics through the Chicago Teachers Union and Cook County government.
Calling Johnson an “implanted candidate” or “carpetbagger” is an editorial conclusion.
The underlying financial facts are documented:
- National consultants built and promoted his political image
- Five outside firms received nearly $6.8 million
- Outside company handled daily campaign-finance operations
- Union-linked insiders occupied campaign leadership positions
- Political advisers followed Johnson into City Hall
- Those advisers later became involved in legislation, city services and disputes over public funding
Campaign money helped build the operation.
Public money became the next concern once that operation entered City Hall.
What Comes Next
Part One just started to examine the private campaign structure that placed Johnson in City Hall.
Part Two will start to examine what happened after the election, when members of the political operation gained access to taxpayer-funded positions, contracts, grants and city programs.
SubX.News® will follow:
- Campaign donors who later sought city business
- Union organizations negotiating with officials they helped elect
- Campaign workers who entered taxpayer-funded positions
- Politically connected nonprofits competing for city grants
- Outside consultants receiving public contracts
- Organizations lobbying the administration after financing Johnson
- Public money directed through anti-violence programs
- Businesses benefiting from Johnson’s policies and spending decisions
Each connection will be documented through campaign filings, city contracts, grant records, payroll data and public documents.
Chicago residents deserve to know who is governing their city, who is benefiting and how much it is costing them.
Part One the campaign money.
Part Two the public money.
Part Three who got ripped off.
Carpetbagger Central will continue.
