Whether running for federal office or a post on the local school board, campaign finance reports are part of the package.

While federal elections are awash in talk of dark money, corporate donations and public action committee funds, when it comes to local elections, the funding sources hit closer to home.

Much closer in fact.

For many candidates, digging into their own pockets and tapping relatives for a little help provides the funding they need to run a campaign. Most candidates for municipal elections receive their campaign donations from sources including private citizens, businesses, unions, other candidates, precinct organizations and political action committees.

In Hobart, where two new candidates are vying for the seat left open when current Mayor Brian Snedecor, who changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in 2020, announced he would not seek reelection.

Democrat Josh Huddleston and Independent Teddian Jackson are vying for the city’s top spot.

Huddleston is finishing his second term as a Hobart City Councilman. So far this year, Huddleston has raised about $96,183 in his bid to take the mayor’s seat, according to the most recent campaign finance report due Oct. 20. He has spent a little more than $48,077 year-to-date.

His campaign received strong support from the building trades, including a total of $10,000 from Ironworkers Local 395 PAC in Portage, according to the report.

Jackson, in his first attempt at office, this year so far has raised about $30,188 of which about $11,341 of those dollars are loans he made to his own campaign. Jackson has not repaid any of his personal loans to the campaign.

He spent about $25,572 so far on routine campaign expenses such as printing, marketing, rent and office supplies.

All of the contributions to Jackson’s campaign come from private individuals and small businesses, according to his reports.

Similarly in other municipal races around Lake County, many candidates find they are financing their own campaigns. Cedar Lake Republican newcomers Larry Nagy and Richard Thiel Jr., who defeated incumbent Republicans John Foreman and Richard Sharpe in the May primary, saw their Town Council campaigns funded by friends, family and in Nagy’s case, his business.

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Cedar Lake Democrats Mary Joan Dickson and Jeff Biel also funded their Town Council campaigns with donations from family and friends.

Still regardless of who provides the funds — even if it is the candidate — the law requires where that money came from and how it is spent to be clearly documented.

And each filing season, Michelle Fajman, director of the board of elections and voters registration, said about 60 candidates or entities required to file campaign finance reports are either late, have filed a defective report, or have failed to file a report altogether.

Fajman said reports are due at noon and those filed 12:01 p.m. or later are considered late. Once the filing deadline closes, she said staff reviews the paperwork for defective reports.

Letters are sent out to candidates who have defective reports and who have not filed their reports. They have 10 days to cure the mistakes. Those who don’t cure the mistakes, or those who fail to file altogether, may face fines. Fajman said the goal is to encourage compliance with statute.

“Transparency. It’s what it all comes down to. The voters and the public have the right to be aware of where their candidates are getting their money,” Fajman said.

cnapoleon@chicagotribune.com