Rauner Has Donated $50M Of His Own Money To Re-Election Campaign
By Rachel Cromidas in News on Dec 22, 2016 10:14PM
Governor Bruce Rauner outside the Director's Lawn at the Illinois State Fair in August 2016. Photo by Aaron Cynic
Four more years of Gov. Bruce Rauner? Whether you want it or not, Rauner is moving ahead with his decision to run for a second term, donating $50 million of his own money into his campaign fund.
The billionaire Republican governor, elected in 2014 amid Illinois' growing pension deficit problem, contributed the money to Citizens for Rauner, Inc. this week, according to Illinois Board of Elections filings. It's the largest individual contribution to a campaign in state history, according to the Sun-Times, rivaling only Rauner's previous $10 million contribution to his own campaign in 2014.
Rauner also spent big in the most recent election cycle, donating over $30 million to various Republican campaigns and causes around Illinois. As a result, Republicans were able to break up the Democrats' supermajority in the Illinois House.
But in the nearly two years since Rauner took the governor's office, his approval rating has tanked thanks in large part to a year-long state budget impasse that kept funding from needy social service organizations while Rauner pushed for the approval a strict "turnaround" policy agenda. Rauner is still pushing that turnaround agenda, even as the state's temporary stopgap budget is set to expire with little sign that progress will be made.