Bruce Rauner has poured another $1.5 million of his own fortune into an increasingly expensive campaign to defeat Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn.
The uber-wealthy Winnetka businessman submitted his seven-figure self-investment Thursday, according to an Illinois Board of Elections posting.
Add that to the $1.5 million Rauner contributed in mid-July and the aspiring Republican governor has doled out almost $10 million in an effort to out-spend Quinn and the state's powerful Democratic Machine.
Critics including Quinn accuse the venture capitalist of trying to buy the Nov. 4 election; supporters say Rauner is showing leadership by putting money where his mouth is.
"It shows how important the race is in order to turn things around in Illinois. We’re on a downward spiral and we’re running out of time to turn things around," Rauner rep Mike Schrimpf tells the Sun-Times.
Striking back, Team Quinn accused Rauner of cynically leveraging his vast wealth for political gain.
"Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner is using the money he pocketed from jumping through giant tax loopholes to finance his campaign to buy the Governor’s office in Illinois," says Quinn spokesperson Izabela Miltko, referencing recent revelations that Rauner took advantage of a corporate loophole to save millions in taxes.
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"His loophole cash may go a long way in buying ads — but it’s not enough to hide his efforts to slash education to pay for even more tax loopholes for his super-rich friends," she adds.
As of last month, Quinn cited more cash in his re-election war chest than Rauner -- $11.7 million to Rauner's $7.2 million -- but has recently raised less money than his rival in the months leading up to the election. In the time-frame spanning April through June, Rauner collected $8 million while Quinn brought in $3.7 million.
Of course, it always helps to have friends in high places.
