Jeb Bush Hits Chicago For Fundraising Blitz

By Kate Shepherd in News on Oct 8, 2015 5:28PM

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Republican Presidential candidate Jeb Bush is hitting the Chicago area today for a two-day fundraising trip.

Bush will attend a fundraiser tonight at the home of Janet and Gerald Keating, the president and CEO of Keating Resources LLC, in Geneva, according to the Tribune. Supporters under the age of 32 could score $250 tickets but prices ranged up to $2,500. Event co-chairs had to raise $10,800 for Bush and co-hosts were required to raise $5,400.

On Friday morning he will host another high-priced fundraiser at the Chicago Club in the Loop.

Despite lagging poll numbers, Bush has been a prolific fundraiser nationally and has won the support of much of Illinois' Republican establishment. His Right to Rise USA super PAC had raised $4.1 million from more than 200 donors in Illinois as of August, the Tribune reported. He's collected $550,000 from investment manager Muneer Satter and $500,000 from Craig Duchossois, CEO of The Duchossois Group.

Chicago's become an unlikely hotspot for the GOP candidates. Ohio Governor John Kasich hit Chicago last week for a public appearance at Portillo's in River North, a private fundraiser at the Union League Club and a meeting with top Illinois GOP officials, according to the Tribune. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson held a lunchtime fundraiser in the Loop last Thursday.

Frontrunner Donald Trump may be ahead in the national polls but has not started building a delegate recruitment operation in Illinois which is essential to getting on the ballet, the Sun-Times reported last month. Petitions start to circulate today.