Rauner Reports $38 Million In the Bank After 3-Point Primary Win

Pritzker Spends More Than Other Gubernatorial Candidates Combined

After an unprecedentedly expensive Primary Election, candidates are already setting their sights on November, and in some cases, February of 2019. Candidates for Illinois Governor spent a combined $65.9 million in 2018 alone, with over half of that money coming from top spender JB Pritzker.

While Governor Bruce Rauner suffered through a surprisingly close race with challenger Jeanne Ives, he only accounted for $17.7 million of that spending, and left $38.5 million in cash on hand heading into General Election season.

Read below for more information on spending by gubernatorial candidates, the Attorney General’s race, and the upcoming election for Chicago’s Mayor.

The top fundraiser in 2018 was self-funder JB Pritzker with $34.3 million. Pritzker’s spending, the highest of the Democratic gubernatorial candidates at $34 million, won him a 20-point margin of victory on March 20th.

Republican State Rep. Jeanne Ives, the second highest fundraiser this quarter, raised the vast majority of her money for this election in 2018, after declaring her candidacy in October of 2017. She spent $4.2 million this quarter, including at least $3.5 million on advertising and media production.

While Governor Rauner raised less than $1 million in the first quarter, he had more than $55 million in cash on hand to draw from as of January 1st, 2018. He spent $17 million of that money, leaving himself with $38 million in the bank after securing a narrow 3-point margin of victory over Rep. Ives.

While Democratic candidate Chris Kennedy brought in slightly more than Sen. Daniel Biss in the first quarter of 2018, Biss drew upon his $3.1 million in cash on hand from the end of last year to outspend Kennedy by about $2 million. This may explain Biss’s election night lead over Kennedy, who ultimately came in third on the Democratic side.

Both Primary winners, Pritzker and Rauner, made an overwhelming majority of their expenditures on advertising, with staff and consulting expenses coming in a distant second and third. In dollar value, however, Pritzker significantly outpaced Rauner’s spending in all of these categories. This amounted to nearly $25 million in advertising and $2.6 million in staff expenses for Pritzker, compared to nearly $15 million in advertising and $1.1 million in staff expenses for Rauner.

As soon as the March 20th Primary Election ended, all eyes turned to the upcoming Chicago Mayoral Election in February of 2019. Incumbent Mayor Rahm Emanuel raised the most this quarter, with $283,750. Union contributions accounted for 36% ($100,800) of Emanuel’s money, while another 23% ($64,000) came from Hollywood executives, and 9% ($26,200) came from real-estate related donors.

Challenger Garry McCarthy, former Chicago Police Superintendent, officially filed his campaign committee in September of 2017. In 2018, McCarthy raised about half of what Emanuel did, with 43% ($63,925) coming from individual donors under $1,000. McCarthy also received a notable $25,500 from Joseph Dombrowski, a controversial attorney with a record of ethics issues.

Emanuel still holds a staggering lead in cash on hand, with over $2.2 million in funds available. Willie Wilson reported zero contributions and expenditures for the first quarter of 2018, but has contributed over $100,000 to his campaign since April 1st, lifting contribution limits in the race. Paul Vallas filed his campaign committee on April 1st, so does not have any campaign finance information to include for the first quarter of 2018.

Democratic Senator Kwame Raoul was the top fundraiser and spender in the Attorney General race, including the first quarter of 2018. Bringing in money from traditional Democratic sources, such as unions and other elected Democrats, he was able to secure a 3-point vote margin over former Governor Pat Quinn. Raoul started the quarter with just over $1 million in cash on hand.

Quinn was the second-highest fundraiser and spender in 2018, spending nearly $2 million compared to just $32,000 in the 4th quarter of 2017, which he ended with $278,000 in cash on hand. Quinn spent 80% of his money on television ads, and used $250,000 to repay a campaign loan from his son, David Quinn.

Scott Drury was the third highest fundraiser, with $1.1 million. Drury also reported $731,000 in cash on hand coming into 2018. Despite their efforts, neither Quinn nor Drury could combat the collective $1.6 million in negative ads purchased by Fight Back for a Better Tomorrow, a Super PAC affiliated with the Local 150 labor union.

While Democratic nominee Kwame Raoul raised and spent much more than Republican victor Erika Harold, the two candidates are heading into the General Election with $99,010 and $91,557 in cash on hand, respectively.