Todd Ricketts takes over SuperPAC

WASHINGTON — With no fanfare, Todd Ricketts — the low-profile member of the family that owns the Chicago Cubs — became the CEO of one of the nation’s largest conservative political action committees last March.

Ricketts, a Wilmette businessman and Cubs board member, is the new CEO of Ending Spending’s SuperPAC and its nonprofit advocacy arm.

He is stepping up to lead the Ending Spending groups founded and largely funded by his father, Joe Ricketts. With the senior Ricketts passing on CEO chores to his son, Todd Ricketts is jumping into the major leagues of politics as a franchise player.

With a fierce, determined focus on cutting the national debt and deficit and reducing the size of government, the Ending Spending entities, while officially non-partisan, are aligned with the GOP.

But Todd Ricketts’ personal political interests go beyond fiscal issues, including joining his sister, Laura, one of President Barack Obama’s mega-fundraisers, in pushing for Illinois to legalize gay marriage.

Ricketts co-hosted a fund-raiser for the American Unity Fund on Oct. 7 in Chicago and is giving his financial support to the GOP-allied group pushing Republican lawmakers to support gay marriage in Illinois.

Full story: Chicago Sun Times