With the primary just two weeks away, Republican candidates poke jabs and play politics in hopes of locking in votes.
Rauner or Rutherford?
As the race for Illinois’ top spot takes shape, two candidates have come to the forefront: one amidst political hammering, the other a good deal of adulation. Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford, the only Republican candidate to hold statewide office, has been pinned with a sexual harassment lawsuit by a former employee while Bruce Rauner, a wealthy businessman and Chairman of GTCR, nearly trounced his opponents in a poll taken by the Chicago Tribune-WGN last month. The poll showed Rauner with 40 percent of the vote, Bill Brady, State Senator, candidate for Governor in 2006 and nominee for Governor in 2010 with 20 percent, Rutherford with 13 percent and Kirk Dillard, State Senator and candidate for Governor in 2010, with 11 percent. Fifteen percent of voters were undecided.
Rauner’s lead in the poll can be largely attributed to the $3.2 million he poured into advertising during the final three months of last year, a sum that outraised and outspent his rivals. An equity investor, Rauner accumulated over $4 million between October and December of last year alone, giving his campaign a healthy head start. He spent the majority of his funds to introduce himself to voters through televised ads.
Unfortunately for Rauner, the launch of the anti-Rauner campaign from the Republican Fund for Progress and Jobs, including a 12-page document delivered to hundreds of voters’ homes and $2 million worth of TV ads funded by the Illinois Freedom PAC, began in mid-February.
But how much impact the anti-Rauner campaign will have remains to be seen. Anti-Rauner ads may not be able to transcend the Winnetka businessman’s ability to advertise his way into the hearts and homes of GOP voters fed up with Springfield politicians.
On the whole, most voters seem less focused on Rauner’s skeletons, namely his alleged ties to a political insider currently in prison, and more attuned to the allegations surrounding Rutherford. Rutherford has since launched television ads and on-line videos emphatically decrying the sexual harassment accusations, even going as far as promising to release internal investigation data that would absolve him of the charges before deciding not to release the findings, stating that the report cannot be released until it becomes trial evidence.
The impact of the lawsuit may prove a positive turn of events for Brady who could potentially curry votes from Downstate residents no longer supporting Rutherford. Still, the impact of the blow has not deterred Rutherford from pressing on. The only candidate to hold statewide office, Rutherford maintains he is the only electable Republican in the race.
Teacher’s Union Endorses Dillard
The Illinois Education Association endorsed Kirk Dillard last month as a “true friend” of public education. Dillard says the endorsement comes as the largest in the race for governor and is helping his campaign place some distance between himself and the other candidates.
The endorsement does come as a plus for Dillard who, along with Brady, has been unable to raise enough money to buy television advertising. Rutherford began running television ads last month. The IEA has not yet decided how much money it will offer Dillard, having given him $250,000 in the 2010 primary. Dillard’s father was a teacher, and his daughters attend public schools, prompting an IEA endorsement.
In the Democratic primary, Governor Pat Quinn will face off against former anti-violence activist Tio Hardiman from Chicago.
Both Democrat and Republican primaries are March 18. The Illinois gubernatorial election will take place on November 4, 2014.