* I told you yesterday that the governor had managed to shave a bunch of money off the debt he owes to Winston & Strawn…

The debt to Winston & Strawn has dropped from $965,352.04 in the last filing period to $750K in this filing period. But no money was reported as being paid to the firm this year. A campaign spokesperson said that the reduced amount was the result of negotiations with the firm. The guv’s people have said for some time now that they’ve disputed some of the charges, and subscribers know another story about the law firm that I told them a couple of months ago.

The spokesman added that no separate legal fund has been set up by the governor.

* Joe Ryan at the Daily Herald asked a good follow-up question…

The last reported bill from Winston & Strawn is from October 2007, but campaign spokesman Doug Scofield said the firm continues to work for the campaign.

“They have been,” he said. “There has just been no charges from them during this six-month reporting period.”

Scofield said the amount of firm’s work has been “similar” to that of the past.

If the work load has been “similar” to what the firm has done in the past, then the governor’s campaign has apparently just not received a bill yet.

No report of new bills doesn’t mean there won’t be a bill soon.

* Meanwhile, the Tribune has a very good fundraising roundup today…

Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan had $2.6 million after pulling in nearly $570,000 in donations during the first half of the year, while Comptroller Dan Hynes quietly raised nearly $740,000 and had almost $2.4 million in the bank. Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias raised nearly $660,000 and had about $1.3 million available along with nearly $2.3 million in previous family loans listed as debts.

Among possible Republican candidates for governor, Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, an unsuccessful contender in 2006, had $67,413 in cash on hand and debts, largely personal, of $685,750 after raising $55,730. DuPage County State’s Atty. Joe Birkett, who lost for lieutenant governor two years ago, raised nearly $64,000 and spent $57,000, leaving $96,713 in his campaign fund.

In the legislature, House Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago reported a combined total of more than $1.85 million in cash between his personal campaign fund and the state Democratic Party’s committee he chairs. Rep. Tom Cross of Oswego, the Republican leader of the House, was expected to show $1.1 million in his own campaign fund, aides said. Another House GOP campaign fund held $111,779.

Democratic Senate President Emil Jones of Chicago listed more than $2 million in his personal and caucus campaign funds. Senate Republican leader Frank Watson of Greenville had more than $2.3 million in cash on hand in the campaign accounts he controls along with another $230,000 in investment funds.

* And expect more stories about this…

A preliminary review of the donors reveals several state contractors. The governor has yet to sign an ethics measure on his desk that would make it illegal for state contractors to donate to such campaigns.

* The Sun-Times looks at a local race…

In the hotly contested race for Cook County state’s attorney, Democratic prosecutor Anita Alvarez brought in $1.1 million in cash and in-kind contributions, along with a $600,000 loan from her husband. She spent nearly $1 million of it on her hard-fought primary election, leaving her $127,000 cash on hand.

Her Republican opponent, Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica, brought in about $73,000 and reported $44,000 cash on hand.

* The Reader claims that Anita Alvarez’s bigtime fundraising is a bad thing, and that Tony Peraica’s paltry take shows what a fine outstanding person he is…

Their success at fund-raising the last few months is similarly dissimilar, according to reports just filed with the state board of elections: she’s raised gobs of money from a long list of insiders; he hasn’t. She looks like she’s going to have a party apparatus working for her; he couldn’t find a party apparatus if he wanted to. She’s taking money from some of the very people she criticized in the primary; he can only dream of such lucrative, uh, flexibility. She’s—well, you get the point.

Warning: The comments over there are just ridiculously goofy. The Reader has the worst, nastiest most libelous and boorish commenters in all of Illinois. The paper ought to be ashamed of itself, but it refuses to do anything about the problem. Good luck with that.

* Related…

* Southern Illinois candidates report fundraising figures

* Rep. Wait, challenger about even in cash on hand

* Race on for political funds

* GOP light on funding for coming races

* Rep. Sommer reports $9,000 for November election

* Lawmakers disclose fundraising status

* Lawmakers report fundraising numbers