Illinois governor cuts $90M check for reelection campaign

Self-funder JB Pritzker made the contribution just days before expected GOP challenger Richard Irvin is set to announce a bid to unseat the first-term Democrat.

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is making a major move to self-finance his reelection bid ahead of an anticipated announcement next week that a new Republican candidate is about to emerge with expected support of Chicago billionaire Ken Griffin.

The Democrat's $90 million contribution was disclosed to state campaign finance officials late Friday. Pritzker has already spent $35 million of his own money on his campaign, and he's shelled out $11.9 million on advertising beginning last year and booked through Jan. 24, according to AdImpact.

Richard Irvin, the mayor of the Chicagoland suburb of Aurora, is expected to announce his plans to run for governor on Monday. He is a Black mayor who could get the financial backing of Griffin, a hedge-fund mogul who had backed then-Gov. Bruce Rauner’s unsuccessful reelection bid against Pritzker in 2018.

Griffin and Pritzker are bitter rivals, with Griffin recently saying in a public forum he is “all in” to defeat the Democratic governor.

A spokesperson for Pritzker’s campaign indicated the funds would also be used for Democratic candidates "up and down the ticket."

“The governor knows that the fight for reproductive freedoms, a strong fiscal future, public health, and an economy that works for everyone is on the ballot in 2022,” Natalie Edelstein said in a statement.

Both Pritzker and Griffin are among Illinois' richest residents. Pritzker, worth an estimated $3.6 billion, according to Forbes, spent more than $171 million on his 2018 election victory. In addition to the $125 million he's already poured into his own campaign, he gave $2 million to the state House Democrats’ campaign fund last month, and $1 million to Democrats in the state Senate.

Since Pritzker's 2018 victory, Democrats have held "trifecta" control in Springfield, allowing the party to enact a $15 minimum wage, a state law that codifies Roe v. Wade, and guiding the state to its first credit upgrade in 20 years.

Griffin, meanwhile, has vowed to singlehandedly fund a GOP candidate, and Irvin could be the beneficiary. Griffin's estimated worth dwarfs even the super-rich Pritzker's: $26.3 billion, according to Forbes.

The 2022 skirmish would not represent the first nine-figure proxy battle between the two men. Griffin helped defeat a Pritzker-backed graduated income tax referendum in 2020 — in which both spent more than $50 million of their own money.

Irvin could need help to navigate a crowded June GOP primary. The contest could be determined by a Republican base that wants a candidate farther to the political right of the Aurora mayor, who has been elected in nonpartisan races and has said in the past he supports abortion rights and immigration rights, including sanctuary cities.

There are four other GOP candidates also in the running: state Sen. Darren Bailey, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf, and businesspeople Gary Rabine and Jesse Sullivan, who also has a wealthy benefactor, billionaire tech entrepreneur Chris Larsen, who has sent $5 million to Sullivan's campaign.

Pritzker does not have a primary but is already campaigning and rallying support across the state, including from Black communities, which overwhelmingly supported him in 2018.

The Illinois governor’s name also has popped up as a potential future presidential candidate, though he says that job is not on his radar. "I have no intention of running for anything but election for governor,” he told reporters recently.

Pritzker would need to win a second term before any presidential aspirations could be weighed. And though he won handily in 2018, Democrats face significant headwinds in this year's midterm elections, even in a very blue Illinois. Rauner was elected in the GOP wave election of 2014, and in 2010, Republicans won a Senate race in Illinois and nearly knocked off then-Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn.

The Illinois governor's race is already gaining national attention. The Democratic Governors Association has released a video highlighting Irvin's past praise for Pritzker at official events.