- Charles Rex Arbogast / AP Photos
- Democrat Pat Quinn and Republican Bruce Rauner have raised almost $100 million in their bitter race for governor.
Here is today’s $100 million question: which candidate for governor is going to get your vote?
Rauner, the challenger, has never run for elected office but says he’s qualified for the state’s top job because he made hundreds of millions of dollars as a private equity investor—including huge sums managing state pensions. He notes that the state is wobbling under annual budget deficits, pension systems underfunded by a jaw-dropping $100 billion, and sluggish job growth.
Did the governor mention that Rauner is a millionaire? That he’s rich? That he might even be a billionaire? That he’s really, really wealthy? He did.
Between January 1, 2013, and the first of this week, the governor received more than $31 million in campaign contributions.
But that’s chump change on Rauner’s side of the ledger. The Republican raised more than twice what Quinn did, hauling in nearly $66 million.
What we know for sure is that Rauner will win by one measure: the amount of money spent per vote received.
