Congresswoman Cheri Bustos has decided she will not join the list of Democrats interested in running against Governor Bruce Rauner in 2018.
“I am not going to run for governor,” Bustos told NBC 5.
The Quad Cities congresswoman was recently appointed to a Democratic leadership position in the House and said, “I’m now the only Midwesterner sitting around the table” and “I see it as a very big responsibility to make sure we have a voice that reflects the families from the heartland that felt like they’ve been left behind.”
Already there are three announced Democratic candidates with even more likely.
Billionaire businessman JB Pritzker is weighing whether to run and wealthy businessman Chris Kennedy has already said he’s in.
It could be a very expensive Democratic primary. Bustos did not answer directly how funding played a role in her decision but she noted “money and politics is something that we really need to address as a nation."
"I’m a proponent of campaign finance reform in Illinois and federally,” she said.
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Bustos said the average contribution in her recent congressional race was $27. She did not rule out eventually endorsing a candidate for the March 2018 primary.
