Darren Bailey faces cash deficit vs. Pritzker

Despite his overwhelming primary victory over five rivals running for Illinois governor, Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey entered the general election season with only $363,918 in his campaign bank account as he takes on billionaire self-funding Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, state campaign finance records show.

Overall, all the candidates in the Democratic and Republican primaries for governor spent more than $143 million — the second time in a row that the race for governor in Illinois has topped the $100 million mark, according to the most recently released campaign records.

Though Pritzker, the first-term incumbent, didn’t have a difficult primary race, he led the spending with $62.4 million, which included ads boosting Bailey as his chosen opponent. Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin spent $52.4 million — including $50 million contributed from Citadel hedge fund firm CEO Ken Griffin, who just days before the June 28 primary announced he planned to move Citadel’s headquarters from Chicago to Miami.

Final vote tallies are scheduled to become official on July 27, but an unofficial count of 97% of the expected final primary vote showed Irvin spent about $446.38 per vote in finishing third with 117,469 votes in the GOP primary. He lost to Bailey, of Xenia, who received more than 454,200 votes. Investor Jesse Sullivan of Petersburg, came in second place, with more than 123,200 votes, according to the unofficial totals.

Bailey, a wealthy downstate farmer who saw his grassroots-backed candidacy grow to include a late endorsement from former President Donald Trump, got 57.7% of the GOP primary vote, according to unofficial returns. Sullivan got 15.6% support, and Irvin had about 15%. Bull Valley businessman Gary Rabine finished fourth with nearly 7%, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf of Waterloo had a little more than 4%, and Hazel Crest attorney Max Solomon had less than 1%.

Bailey has raised more than $11.9 million since he announced his candidacy in February of last year and spent more than $11.7 million. In addition to the more than $363,000 in cash he had on hand to begin July, he reported $246,685 in debts from loans he and his wife gave the campaign. Bailey spent about $25.80 per vote, records show.

Bailey was boosted by more than $9 million from ultraconservative megadonor Richard Uihlein, owner of the Uline office packaging company. That money allowed Bailey to buy at least $7.8 million in TV ads. His campaign reports also show spending at least $8,223 on lodging and food at Trump Hotel & Tower in Chicago in August of last year and June of this year before receiving the former president’s endorsement just days before the primary Election Day.

Uihlein also funded a Bailey-supporting political action committee with $8 million. The People Who Play By The Rules PAC, headed by right-wing radio show host Dan Proft of Naples, Florida, used the money for TV ads and mailers attacking Irvin’s GOP credentials, and reported $669,049 in cash at the start of July.

One of the major questions surrounding Bailey’s efforts has been how forthcoming Uihlein will be in supporting the state senator for the general election against Pritzker, who is worth $3.6 billion, according to Forbes.

Bailey’s campaign spokesman Joe DeBose said Pritzker’s wealth won’t help him.

“All the money in the world can’t hide out-of-touch billionaire J.B. Pritzker’s terrible record on crime, taxes, jobs, and quality of life,” DeBose said. “Darren Bailey will have the necessary resources to tell voters about Pritzker’s horrible record and about Bailey’s plan to get tough on crime, cut taxes, and make Illinois safe and affordable place to raise our families.”

Pritzker has spent about $30 million on TV ads since he announced his reelection bid in July of last year, with many of his late primary ads attacking Irvin and calling Bailey too conservative and “extreme” for the state — a move aimed at shoring up Bailey’s support among GOP conservatives. Millions of dollars also was spent on similar ads by the Pritzker-backed Democratic Governors Association.

Irvin spent more than $33 million on TV advertising alone after announcing his candidacy in January of this year. In the days before the primary election and immediately following, Irvin criticized Democrats for meddling in the GOP primary. In addition to spending on a hefty list of campaign consultants, Irvin also redirected nearly $1.4 million to others running as a Griffin-backed slate for statewide office.

Sullivan, making his first bid for public office and running as a faith-based outsider, raised nearly $12.7 million since he began his bid in September of last year, and spent nearly $12.5 million, including about $8 million on TV commercials.

But much of Sullivan’s contributions came as early seed money for his campaign, largely from cryptocurrency executives, and in the final three months of the campaign he raised less than $220,000. Rabine, a paving contractor, raised nearly $3.8 million and spent nearly $3.6 million. His campaign cash included more than $1.8 million in personal loans.

Schimpf, the first candidate to announce for the GOP nomination on Feb. 15 of last year, raised more than $574,000 and spent $629,000.

All the spending in the primary will ensure the 2022 race for Illinois governor will be one of the most expensive ever in state history.

Four years ago, a combined $124.5 million was spent as then-Gov. Bruce Rauner narrowly won renomination against former state Rep. Jeanne Ives, while Pritzker won a six-way battle for the Democratic nomination. Pritzker spent $68 million and Rauner spent $37 million, according to campaign records assembled by Kent Redfield, a campaign finance expert and a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Only a dozen years ago, with competitive primary races for governor in both parties, total spending was $25 million, according to Redfield’s research.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Board of Elections finalized its count of the primary vote, showing a turnout of 22.8% of the city’s 1,498,813 registered voters. Of the 341,901 primary ballots cast, 89.4% were Democratic and 10.3% were Republican. Libertarian and nonpartisan ballots made up the rest.

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