Lake County Gazette

Illinois gubernatorial hopeful Joe Severino (R), who has been linked to controversies including multiple stalking allegations, reported his first major campaign donation of $50,000 from billionaire investor Stewart R. Horejsi, according to an Oct. 17 filing with the Illinois State Board of Elections. 

The donation from Horejsi, an 88-year-old Kansan known for his early stake in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, is raising questions about why a billionaire with no apparent ties to Illinois would cut such a large check to a little-known candidate whose campaign has yet to find its footing.

Horejsi’s contribution comes at a time when Severino’s campaign is reeling from a cascade of criticism, infighting and accusations of disorganization.

Since announcing his run for governor in April 2025, Severino has failed to file the required financial disclosure forms, missed reporting deadlines and contradicted his own statements about fundraising.

In interviews and social media posts, Severino has claimed to be supported by “grassroots donors,” but state filings reveal that Horejsi’s $50,000 is virtually his only major contribution to date. An official familiar with Severino’s filing told the Daily Herald earlier this month that the candidate “appears to have raised almost nothing,” despite claiming otherwise.

“He told a reporter he wasn’t fundraising yet—that was false,” a source familiar with his campaign’s activity told the Lake County Gazette. “He’s been taking money since the summer, including at the Lake County Fairgrounds, but hasn’t filed anything properly.”

Even basic campaign infrastructure has been a struggle for Severino. His website was inactive for weeks after his campaign's launch, he had no press contacts and emails to his campaign reportedly bounced.

Rather than building support, Severino has focused on attacking fellow Republicans, including DuPage County Sheriff Jim Mendrick. 

Notably, Severino was outed for attempting to solicit a digital marketer to create an artificial intelligence video slandering Mendrick. 

“My political stalker, Joe Severino, has sunk to the lowest level of depravity,” Mendrick said in a Facebook post. “He actually tried to hire a company to make fake AI videos of me. He wanted the fake videos to be made depicting me doing meth amphetamine with 14 year old girls. This man is sick. He’s doing the same thing to a dozen other republicans.” 

Severino has also faced multiple orders of protection from Mendrick, Downers Grove GOP precinct committeeman Terry Newsome and is currently being sued for defamation by Lake Forest Podcast host Pete Jansons.

“This is kind of awkward, but he is the first gubernatorial candidate who was running for office was labeled by the State of Illinois as a stalker,” the insider said. 

Severino’s actions have earned him a reputation among party insiders as an agent of chaos rather than a serious challenger.

His background also reads more like a cautionary tale than a candidate’s résumé. 

Severino’s business record is checkered with dissolved entities, unpaid employees and allegations of wage theft from his former company, Elite Valet Services.

Court documents also show that his Lake Forest mansion has been at the center of a bankruptcy dispute and that Severino sold the property to his own investment firm, SevStar Investments, under questionable terms. 

In 2024, he ran an unsuccessful independent write-in campaign for Illinois' 10th Congressional District, securing just 238 votes compared to Democrat Rep. Brad Schneider’s 196,358 and Republican Jim Carris’s 131,025. In that race Severino failed to gather enough signatures to qualify as a Republican candidate, then tried unsuccessfully to run as a Democrat before ultimately running as a write-in.

In 2022, the Federal Election Commission filed a complaint against Severino over his failure to submit required congressional campaign filings. In the 2024 campaign cycle Severino also failed to submit the necessary filings, once again falling behind on his federal election paperwork. 

He has alienated many Illinois Republicans by attacking fellow conservatives online, often echoing narratives from leftist organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). In one exchange, Severino appeared to boast of “coordinating stories” with SPLC associate Jeff Tischauser, a move that further fueled speculation about his motives. 

“Who does that as a Republican?” the insider asked. 

As the 2026 Republican gubernatorial primary field takes final shape, with candidates like Ted Dabrowski, Darren Bailey, Mendrick and Rick Heidner running organized, well-funded campaigns, Severino’s operation has drawn attention for all the wrong reasons.

Horejsi, a Kansas-born businessman, is worth an estimated $3 billion and built his fortune by investing in Berkshire Hathaway stock that he began buying in 1980 for about $265 a share—now valued at more than $520,000 each.

Over the past decade, Horejsi, who splits his time between Arizona, Oregon and Barbados, has cultivated a reputation as both a philanthropist and an eccentric financier. Through his Horejsi Charitable Foundation, he’s funneled tens of millions into causes ranging from the Mayo Clinic’s Phoenix expansion to the University of Kansas athletics programs.

He has a track record of providing campaign donations to Republicans, including in Illinois.

In 2020, Horejsi contributed $5,600 to Ted Gradel’s 2019 congressional campaign. The donation, recorded on Sept. 26, 2019, placed Horejsi among the top individual contributors to Gradel’s effort to win Illinois’ 14th Congressional District seat.

Gradel, a former Notre Dame football player and businessman, ran for Illinois’ 14th Congressional District in 2020, finishing fourth in the GOP primary with 13.4% of the vote. 

Whether Horejsi’s support can translate into broader traction for Severino remains to be seen.