Big-Money Campaigns And Candidates In Illinois Governor's Race

The upcoming election cycle in Illinois is expected to be one of the costliest for candidates and their donors, but principles, not money, may matter more in the long run. Illinois Campaign for Political Reform Executive Director Sarah Brune said there’s no doubt the upcoming elections will be big money races, especially if billionaire J.B. Pritzker and multi-millionaire Gov. Bruce Rauner go head to head.

“It’s a fact that in 2018, our gubernatorial election as well as state House and Senate elections are going to be very expensive,” Brune said.

State Rep. Peter Breen, R-Lombard, who recently came out against Rauner’s support for taxpayer-funded abortions, said the governor's money may not have as much of an impact as it previously did.

Crain’s Chicago Business Journal reports Rauner raised $65.9 million and spent $30 per vote in 2014, nearly three times more than Bill Brady spent in 2010. Quinn raised $31.4 million and spent $17 per vote, $8 more per vote than in 2010. Nearly half of Rauner’s campaign funds in 2014 were from his personal wealth.

“Republicans who are in elected service, or seeking elective service, have to make their decision based on policy and politics without regard to big campaign donors," Breen said. "If it’s otherwise, then you’re running for office for the wrong reason.”

Springfield restauranteur Mike Murphy was recently backed by the Sangamon County Republican Party to run for the 99th House district currently held by state Rep. Sara Wojcicki Jimenez, R-Springfield. Jimenez announced she will not be seeking re-election.

Murphy, who also disagreed with Rauner’s decision to sign the taxpayer-funded abortion bill, said he hasn’t been approached by Rauner with an offer for campaign funding.

“I’m not going to be beholden to anybody,” Murphy said. “I understand you’ve got to raise money, but I’m not going to compromise my position [based] on who gives me money.”

Campaign spending data from the state elections board through ICFPR show Rauner has more than $67 million in his campaign account as of June 30, 2017. He’s given the Illinois Republican Party $30.5 million, and $15.4 million was transferred to the House Republican Organization in June of this year. A variety of Republican statehouse candidates have gotten more than a million dollars from that fund with others getting tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars.

Rauner’s fund has given $3 million directly to Citizens for [Jim] Durkin, the House minority leader, and $1 million to Citizens for Leslie Munger.

“If Bruce Rauner was just a normal person who didn’t have hundreds of millions of dollars and he was the governor of the state of Illinois,” Breen said, Republicans must ask themselves, “would you support him today? What decision would you make if he did not have this massive amount of money to make these campaign contributions? That’s a gut check that everyone is going to have to make that’s in the Republican ranks.”

Brune said the millions upon millions of dollars being raised in state legislative races is intimidating to political newcomers.

“They see that only certain types of people, and that would be people who have access to millions of dollars, are really able to find success in the political field,” Brune said.

Breen said money in politics is free speech and candidates with refined messages can bypass traditional media channels.

“Today where you have social media,” Breen said, “where ideas can go viral quickly, someone who has less funding is not necessarily at a disadvantage, or not at the disadvantage they used to be at when we didn’t have social media.”

Breen said there are numerous examples in national and state politics where a well-funded candidate lost to a poorly funded candidate.

By Greg Bishop | Illinois News Network

images via Associated Press