This fall, Illinois voters will decide whether Democratic incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn remains at the helm of the state’s top office, or if wealthy businessman Bruce Rauner can become the first Republican governor to win an election since 1998. As the 2014 Illinois gubernatorial race kicks into high gear, both candidates are busy accelerating their campaigns, slinging political attacks at one another and amassing campaign war chests that almost certainly will make this the most expensive gubernatorial race in Illinois history. According to the Illinois State Board of Elections, Rauner has raised roughly $25.6 million; Quinn has pulled in $13.6 million as of the July 15 second quarter filing deadline.Rauner is his own biggest contributor, putting in nearly $6.6 million of his own money into his campaign thus far.While most of Rauner’s biggest contributions come from individuals, nine of Quinn’s 10 biggest donations come from organizations such as unions and political action committees.According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Rauner raised more money during the second quarter period, but Quinn didn’t spend as much, and had more cash on hand available as of June 30.
To create an apples-to-apples comparison, these rankings are for donations made to both candidates after March 5, 2013, when Rauner first began collecting donations for his Republican primary race. Quinn has campaign donations on record dating back more than 20 years, but those are from earlier races.
The state’s campaign donation limits don’t apply in the governor’s race because Rauner in November crossed the $250,000 mark for self-funding. State law limits campaign donations to $5,300 from individuals; $10,500 from corporations, unions or associations, and $52,600 from a candidate political committee or political action committee. But those limits don’t apply if one of the candidates in a race provides $250,000 of his or her own money.
Check out the lists below to see where all the money is coming from. If you prefer, we’ve included a plain text version of the list following each candidate’s top 10 campaigndonors.
(Disclosure: Kenneth Griffin is the husband of Anne Dias Griffin, founding investor of Reboot Illinois. Kenneth Griffin is not affiliated with Reboot Illinois.)
(*Contribution figures are rounded up)
Next article: Poll shows Rauner’s riches, Quinn’s anti-violence fiasco cancel each other in 2014 Illinois governor’s race
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- Want to tell your elected officials what you think about the state of government in Illinois? Use our Sound Off tool.Kevin Hoffman and Caitlin Wilson are staff writers at Reboot Illinois.