Sam McCann was first elected in 2010 as a Republican in the 49th district, defeating incumbent Democrat Deanna Demuzio, and was later elected to the redrawn 50th district in central Illinois.
16 Facts About Sam McCann
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In 2018, McCann left the Republican Party and ran for Governor of Illinois as the nominee of the newly-founded Conservative Party.
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Sam McCann ran as a more socially conservative alternative to incumbent Republican governor Bruce Rauner.
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Sam McCann was first elected in 2010, narrowly defeating incumbent Democrat Deanna Demuzio.
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Sam McCann ultimately won re-nomination with 52.67 percent of the vote to Benton's 47.33 percent.
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Sam McCann did not run for re-election in 2018, instead forming the Conservative Party of Illinois in order to run in the 2018 Illinois gubernatorial election as a third party candidate nominee.
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Sam McCann argued that he was more closely aligned with then-President Donald Trump than was Rauner.
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In early 2016, a complaint was filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections alleging that McCann had given himself too much money from his campaign fund for mileage reimbursements that were in excess of the amount that McCann actually traveled, and that McCann had given himself money from the same fund for "grouped expenditures" which were not properly documented.
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The total amount for the challenged mileage reimbursements and "grouped expenditures" that Sam McCann personally received from his campaign fund was $85,019.65.
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In September 2017, Sam McCann came under fire again when he used campaign funds to purchase an SUV for over $60,000 and a new engine on a personally owned vehicle.
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In February 2021, Sam McCann was indicted by the US Attorney's Office on charges of fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion related to his alleged misuse of campaign money for personal expenses.
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The indictment alleges that from May 2015 to June 2020, Sam McCann engaged in a scheme to convert more than $200,000 in contributions and donations made to his campaign committees to pay himself and make personal purchases, and that he concealed his fraud from donors, the public, the Illinois State Board of Elections and law enforcement authorities.
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On February 15,2024, near the end of his trial, Sam McCann changed his plea to guilty on all the counts of corruption against him.
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Sam McCann is the son of the late William S McCann of Zephyrhills, FL who died in a house fire in January,1977.
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Sam McCann has three half sisters and two half brothers.
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Sam McCann is the nephew of former Lincoln County, WV, County Commissioner, Charles McCann, and Ronald Z McCann, West Virginia Public Service Commissioner.