North Cook News

Republican candidate for the 16th Illinois House District Vince Romano is curious about series of transactions helping his opponent's campaign.

Romano is calling attention to a series of transactions that eventually put $50,000 into opponent Kevin Olickal's campaign. According to a graphic in an email from Romano, 16th District Citizens for Ethical leadership made an in-kind contribution to Friends of Kevin Olickal for $53,445.66. This contribution was made on June 28.

"We noticed this 16th District Citizens for Ethical Leadership that did an in-kind contribution to Kevin Olickal who I'm running against for $53,455, and I was like, wow, that's a lot of money," Romano said. "And, I passed this to the other people in my area who have been around politics for 30 years, and I asked them if they had heard of this 16th District Citizens for Ethical Leadership. They said no. I looked up the address for it, and it was a UPS store so they have a mailbox or whatever. And I look into it, and they were set up on May 2; they did a shuffle with the chairman and the treasurer and did another shuffle a month later and put the treasurer to the chairman. You are only allowed $59,500 to give to a candidate if you're a PAC. This is tied in between the Healthcare Council of Illinois, Kevin Olickal, this shell group, 16th District Citizens for Ethical Leadership, also State Sen. Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago), it looks like, and also now Republicans in quotations."

Romano explained that the Healthcare Council for Illinois has a PAC and how it became a vehicle to donate money to Olickal.

"So on June 24, they take $53,550 from [the] Health Council of Illinois to Healthcare Council of Illinois PAC," Romano continued. "On the same day, they take $53,500 from the PAC and give it to this 16th District Citizens for Ethical Leadership. Three days later on June 27, they make a payout for mailers for $53,445, so it just so happens that pretty much the exact amount goes from the dues from the Healthcare Council to their PAC and from their PAC to this pastor. They, the next day give an in-kind contribution to Kevin Olickal for $53,455 leaving them like a hundred bucks or whatever. So from May until June 24, they did nothing, and the only thing they did was take this money and give it to Kevin Olickal as a pastor. The Healthcare PAC actually gave Kevin themselves $29,700 earlier in June, so their limit is $30,000 let's say, so they knew that they were going to give money, so there is coordination here between everyone."

Romano was born and raised in Skokie, and he still lives there today. In the late 1990s, he began his career in real estate and eventually won the title of Top Producers with Prudential Preferred Properties. While working in real estate, Romano was asked to assist his dad in the financial services field. He transitioned to financial services and landed a job at Morgan Stanley as a financial advisor. Now, Romano is partnered with the Romano Group which provides services to retirees. 

According to his campaign website, Romano's most important issues are reducing taxes, combating crime, and school choice. Romano says he opposes career politicians and says he is tired of the machine in Springfield. He pledges to serve no more than four two-year terms. He vows to fight against waste, fraud, and corruption in Springfield, and he wants to make Illinois one of the top places to do business in the country. Also, Romano is an advocate for pension reform. He promises to propose legislation that "moves the state legislature’s pension from the backs and shoulders of taxpayers with the defined benefit programs to a defined contribution program."

According to Ballotpedia, Romano holds a master's degree in psychology from Northeastern Illinois University. From 1985-1991, he worked at Merrill Lynch as a financial advisor. Then he was the senior vice president of Wachovia Securities Financial Network from 1991 to 2003. Since 2003, he has been the senior vice president of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. 

Romano ran in an uncontested Republican primary election. He will face Democrat Olickal in the general election. 

Olickal defeated Denyse Wang Stoneback in the Democratic primary with 52.9% of the vote. 

The 16th House District includes Lincolnwood and parts of Skokie.