published Mar 21, 2018, 2:34:19 AM, by John McCormick and Elizabeth Campbell
(Bloomberg) —
Billionaire J.B. Pritzker won the Democratic primary for Illinois governor Tuesday after investing at least $69.5 million of his fortune to try to secure a job that comes with some of the biggest fiscal challenges faced by any state.

The Hyatt hotel heir in November will face incumbent Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, who emerged with a surprisingly narrow victory in the GOP primary against State Representative Jeanne Ives, a conservative challenger who was underfunded, understaffed and mostly unknown before entering the race.

In another closely watched race, Democratic Representative Dan Lipinski narrowly survived a primary challenge from activist and businesswoman Marie Newman in the 3rd Congressional District that includes part of Chicago and southwest suburbs. With 97 percent of precincts reporting, Lipinski had won 50.9 percent to Newman’s 49.1 percent, according to the Associated Press.

The seven-term incumbent, an abortion rights opponent and one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, came under attack by liberal groups backing Newman, who also had the support of Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders.

The contest between Pritzker and Rauner is shaping up as an extreme example of one of the consequences of escalating campaign spending: Increasingly, only the rich can afford to run for statewide office in places that include costly advertising markets like Chicago.

Personal Fortunes

Both men have shown a willingness to use their personal fortunes to finance campaigns. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index lists Pritzker with a net worth of $3.6 billion, while Rauner is a former private-equity executive worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Rauner, 62, is seeking a second term and rated among the most vulnerable Republican governors facing 2018 re-election. With 92 percent of precincts counted, an Associated Press tabulation had him ahead of Ives, 52 percent to 48 percent.

“You have given me the chance to win the battle against the corruption that plagues Illinois,’’ Rauner told supporters in Chicago. “While we disagree on some things, let’s commit to working together on what unites us — the reforms we need to save our state.’’

Democratic Contest

Pritzker, 53, defeated Chris Kennedy, a son of late liberal icon Robert F. Kennedy, and state Senator Daniel Biss. With 92 percent of precincts counted, Pritzker had 46 percent, followed Biss at 26 percent and Kennedy with 24 percent.

“This campaign is not just about the failed policies of a failed governor who thinks that lifting up the people of Illinois is a government expense rather than an investment in the future,’’ Pritzker told supporters at a victory party in Chicago. “No, this campaign is about a fight for economic security, about jobs and wages, healthcare, education and human services for working families in Illinois.’’

During the primary campaign, Kennedy and Biss both highlighted Pritzker’s wealth to suggest he was out of touch with average voters. That will be a more difficult tactic for Rauner, who has already put $50 million of his own money into his campaign.

Still, the brutal primary — Pritzker’s rivals called him a fraud, liar and painted him as someone trying to buy his way into office — could leave some lasting scars on the Democratic nominee and plenty of video clips for the GOP candidate to use against him.

In his advertising, Rauner’s campaign has already made use of recently released audio recordings from almost a decade ago that captured Pritzker and then-Governor Rod Blagojevich, now serving a prison sentence on corruption charges, making crass comments about several of the state’s prominent black politicians. Pritzker has apologized for his remarks on the recording.

Democratic Ties

He and some of his family members are longtime Democratic mega donors and they have deep ties to the party nationally, including some of its biggest names.

His sister, Penny Pritzker, served as a U.S. commerce secretary in President Barack Obama’s administration. She led fundraising efforts for Obama’s first presidential bid and has a robust list of donors at her disposal, while her brother was deeply involved in Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign fundraising in 2008 and 2016.

Contribution limits are waived in Illinois if any candidate gives more than $250,000 to their own bid, meaning there will be no limits to how much can be raised and spent on the governor’s race. Pritzker told Bloomberg News in a February 2017 interview that he was willing to spend from his own personal fortune “whatever it will take to run a winning campaign.”

The current record-holder is the 2010 California governor’s race, which drew the most money among non-federal, statewide contests, according to data from the nonpartisan National Institute on Money in State Politics that goes back to 2000. That contest included now-Democratic Governor Jerry Brown and former Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman, a Republican. It attracted $244 million in contributions, including about $144 million that Whitman gave to her campaign.

The winner of the Illinois election will face enormous fiscal challenges. Illinois has the worst bond rating among all U.S. states and has struggled to fix its finances amid gridlock between Rauner, who took office in January 2015, and Democratic lawmakers.

Rauner, the only Republican to currently hold statewide office in Illinois, has pushed a pro-business, anti-union agenda that he argues is needed to pull the state out of its budget crisis.

There are $9 billion of unpaid bills, chronic budget deficits and $129 billion of unfunded pension liabilities. The Illinois credit rating is only one level above junk, making its borrowing costs the highest of any U.S. state. Plus, it’s losing population, dropping to the sixth-most-populous state last year, U.S. Census data show.

To contact the reporters on this story: John McCormick in Chicago at jmccormick16@bloomberg.net ;Elizabeth Campbell in Chicago at ecampbell14@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net Justin Blum
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