Illinois Continues to Lead Nationally in Fundraising for Governors’ Races
Quick Read - Self-funding by Gov. Bruce Rauner ($50m) and JB Pritzker ($28m) accounts for 73% of the Illinois fundraising
- Current pace of 2018 fundraising and spending in Illinois puts us on track to break the record for most expensive gubernatorial election in Illinois and possibly the nation
- Kicking off the 2017-2018 gubernatorial elections next week (November 7), two states, Virginia and New Jersey, have raised $39 million and $48 million respectively. With still one year to go, the 2018 Illinois gubernatorial hopefuls have raised twice as much ($107 million) – $20 million more than the two 2017 races combined.
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| Recently, ICPR released a report detailing fundraising and spending trends among gubernatorial candidates in Illinois. The report noted that spending in the 2018 gubernatorial race is up over 700% compared to spending at the same point in 2014. Fundraising in the Illinois gubernatorial race has also outpaced other state contests, with 2018 Illinois candidates raising more than twice as much as candidates for the two 2017 state gubernatorial elections next week. To underscore this point, Illinois candidates have raised over $100 million, with most coming from self-contributions by Governor Bruce Rauner (R) and businessman JB Pritzker (D). In Virginia and New Jersey, candidates have raised $39 and $47 million respectively. And again, their Election Day is one week away. The table below shows Illinois’ unparalleled fundraising for the 2018 race. Gubernatorial races are highlighted to reflect the status of the incumbent governor in the races. Races with incumbent Republican governors seeking re-election are in red, those with Democratic governors seeking re-election are in blue, and open seats are highlighted in yellow. To view detailed profiles on each of these races, click here. |
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Overall, $339 million has been raised for the these eleven gubernatorial races. Of that total, almost a third of the funds were raised by Illinois’ candidates. In fact, Illinois candidates have raised 224% and 270% more than New Jersey and Virginia candidates, hoping to be elected on November 7th.
Even California, with its proven ability to host expensive elections,has not experienced anything to match this. In 2010, California’s gubernatorial election between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman became the most expensive gubernatorial race in US history with a pricetag of $280 million. Despite this, and the fact that California and Illinois have comparable numbers of candidates (6 vs 7), Illinois candidates have thus far raised 367% more than the 2018 California candidates.
The 2010 and 2018 races share an important similarity: both races feature self-funding billionaires who are willing to spend millions of dollars to win the election. In Illinois, there are two such candidates, Bruce Rauner and JB Pritzker, whose self-donations account for 73% of the funds in the race so far. Click on the table below to view a detailed description of each Illinois candidate’s campaign finance information
At the end of May, ICPR predicted that the 2018 Illinois gubernatorial race could be the most expensive in US history. Since then, the candidates have demonstrated a clear ability to out-raise candidates in elections from other large states and to outpace its own 2014 spending, which was the highest in Illinois history. These trends reinforce the likelihood that our 2018 race will be record-breaking, both for Illinois and possibly for the nation.
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