The Democratic primary for governor is on pace to be the most expensive election in Illinois history, and the three top candidates are exchanging barbs as the big day draws near.
Candidate Chris Kennedy said this week that front-runner J.B. Pritzker is trying to buy the race after reports surfaced that the billionaire had injected $63 million of his own money into the race.
“He’s trying to buy everybody, black and white,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy says that Pritzker is spending $500,000 a day of his own money on the race, and revealed documents that detail how that money is being allocated.
Pritzker has donated $600,000 to Democratic committees throughout the state, and that number includes $159,000 in donations to Cook County committeemen.
A group of Chicago alderman who support Pritzker say that the money donated by the candidate is desperately needed to properly run elections.
“The way it works now is in order for committemen to operate, and just to open our doors on Election Day, it costs $10,000,” Alderman Walter Burnett said. “We all need help in order to run elections.”
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While Kennedy criticized Pritzker for his spending, candidate Daniel Biss attempted to distance himself from the other two candidates.
A Look at the Democrats Running for Illinois Governor
“There’s the Madigan-Pritzker wing of the Democratic Party, and the progressive-independent wing, which I’m a part of,” he said.
While money has been a theme of the Republican primary, another issue took center stage Friday, as the mystery surrounding Governor Bruce Rauner’s former top attorney Dennis Murashko was back in the headlines.
Murashko, who left his position abruptly last summer, says that the Inspector General has informed him that a case brought against him was ruled unfounded. He says that the complaint was malicious, false, and defamatory, but the final report has not yet been made public.
The report, which contains a complaint that Murashko called malicious and defamatory, has yet to be made public
