The battle of the billionaires is set, as Democrat J.B. Pritzker and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner will go head-to-head in November in Illinois' top statewide race.
Both candidates for Illinois governor wasted no time hitting the campaign trail Wednesday after clinching their respective nominations the night before.
Look for other Democrats like attorney general candidate state Sen. Kwame Raoul to receive financial backing from Pritzker, the billionaire Hyatt heir who is self-funding his campaign and has so far dumped $69.5 million into his own coffers.
"We're running as a ticket, you know, Democrats will run together," Pritzker said Wednesday. "We are a united party in our desire to make change in Illinois."
Rauner toured a plant in suburban St. Charles, displaying the power of the incumbent.
And both candidates have already hit airwaves yet again, releasing negative ads about one another.
"He'll set a record, a national record for how much he spends in a governor's race, but he's gonna lose," Rauner said of Pritzker Wednesday.
Not so, says the Democratic nominee.
"We're going to point up the issues that matter to people in Illinois and I'm going to make this campaign about the kitchen table issues," Pritzker said.
"We are witnessing the most expensive governor's race in Illinois history and it's only the beginning, it's not going to stop," political strategist Lance Trover said.
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Pritzker won 98 of 102 counties statewide, while Rauner limped away from the primary, winning just one of the suburban collar counties.
Badly bruised by right-wing challenger state Rep. Jeanne Ives, how will Rauner win back conservatives?
"I personally don't focus on social issues," he said Wednesday - the same day a spokeswoman for Ives said in a statement that she had no plans to speak with him because she has "no reason to believe or trust anything he says."
"They divide us when we need to be united to fix our economic problems. I focus on what unites us," he continued.
As for Pritzker, the line of attack launched at him has been, as a longtime Democratic fundraiser, his ties to politicians like disgraced ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios, who lost to newcomer Fritz Kaegi in the primary election on Tuesday.
With that loss, Berrios is all but certain to be ousted as chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party, so who does Pritzker support instead?
"I dont know, I don't make those decisions," Pritzker said when asked.
When it comes to turnout in Chicago - nearly twice as many voters came out as compared to the 2014 midterm primary election.
The biggest age group that voted was those over 45 years old, and millennials had a lackluster showing, making up less than 4 percent of the vote.
