Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic challenger J.B. Pritzker have combined for record spending of $207.4 million in their bids for the state’s top office, including nearly $120 million in advertising since their campaigns began last year, new state finance records showed.
Just in the past three-month period — from July 1 to the end of September — the two main candidates spent a combined $74.1 million on the general election contest. Pritzker spent $47.4 million, or more than a half-million dollars a day, while Rauner spent $26.7 million, or nearly $300,000 a day, during the latest financial quarter.
The race between Rauner, a wealthy equity investor, and Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, had been expected to set state records. Since the start of 2017, Pritzker has spent $135.9 million compared to $71.5 million by Rauner.
The previous record total spent on an Illinois governor’s race was $112 million, a mark set four years ago when Rauner spent $65.3 million on his way to defeating then-Gov. Pat Quinn.
Pritzker is largely self-funding his campaign and has pumped $146.5 million into it from his own pockets since launched his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in March 2017. Rauner is relying largely on $50 million he put into his bank account in December 2016 along with $22.5 million in donations from Citadel CEO Ken Griffin.
Pritzker has spent $80 million on media in his candidacy, which included winning a six-way Democratic primary in March with 45.1 percent of the vote. In the July-through-September period, he spent nearly $25 million on paid advertising to attack Rauner, the first-term Republican.
Rauner has spent $44 million on media, which included early attack ads aimed at damaging Pritzker’s primary chances. But Rauner also was forced to spend money later in the primary season to offset a challenge from state Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton and narrowly won renomination by 3 percentage points. In the latest three-month period, Rauner spent $16.6 million on advertising, records showed.
Both candidates also have spent campaign dollars for party-building efforts. In winning election in 2014, Rauner used his personal wealth to rebuild the state GOP campaign apparatus and helped fund Republican legislative efforts against Democratic majorities in the Senate and in the House, where his chief political nemesis, Michael Madigan, is speaker.
In the latest three-month period, Rauner gave $6 million to the House Republican Organization, the campaign arm of the House GOP. He also gave $1 million to Erika Harold, the Republican candidate for attorney general against Democratic state Sen. Kwame Raoul. They are seeking to replace Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the speaker’s daughter.
Pritzker has used his wealth similarly to infuse cash into Democratic campaigns, lessening some of the reliance Democrats have traditionally placed on organized labor for funding.
In the most recent quarter, Pritzker has given about $9 million to Democratic groups. His donations include $2 million to the Democratic Majority fund headed by Michael Madigan; $1.6 million to the Rock Island Democratic Party that is headed by Doug House, who is president of the Democratic County Chair’s Association; $1.5 million to the Democratic Party of Illinois, which is chaired by Madigan, and $2 million to funds assisting Senate Democrats.
In late September, Pritzker also doled out $5,000 checks to 16 Chicago aldermen, records showed.
For the July-through-September period, Pritzker raised $41.6 million, primarily from a pair of $20 million contributions he made to himself, and had $12.6 million in cash available at the start of October. Rauner raised $2.2 million and had $7.2 million in cash to start the month.
Libertarian candidate Grayson “Kash” Jackson reported raising $15,085 in the three-month period. After spending $15,354, largely on internet advertising and billboards, he reported $716.80 to begin October.
Republican state Sen. Sam McCann of Plainview, running as the Conservative Party candidate for governor, reported raising nearly $1.2 million from July through September, virtually all of it from labor union affiliates of the Operating Engineers. He reported spending more than $933,000, leaving him with more than $308,000 in cash available at the start of this month.
In the contest for attorney general, Raoul raised $7.8 million since he launched his campaign in September of last year and spent $5.9 million, which included winning an eight-way Democratic primary.
Of his total money raised, $1.9 million has come from Pritzker, including $1 million in the last quarter and another $890,000 this month. Raoul reported spending nearly $2.9 million and had more than $653,000 in cash to start October — not counting his most recent cash infusion from Pritzker.
Harold has raised $3.5 million since announcing her candidacy in August of last year and spent about $2.4 million. Of her total money raised, more than $1.8 million has come from Rauner’s campaign, including $500,000 earlier this month. She reported raising $1.9 million in the last three months and spent nearly $1.95 million, leaving her with about $175,000 in cash to start the month of October, not counting Rauner’s most recent donation. Late Tuesday, Harold added $1.5 million from Rauner ally Griffin.
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