Billionaire Gov. JB Pritzker is carrying another massive financial advantage into the home stretch of his reelection rematch against Republican challenger Darren Bailey.
The self-funded Democratic incumbent reported nearly $23.8 million in campaign expenses from July through September, compared to about $941,000 shelled out by his Republican challenger’s political committee, according to quarterly finance reports filed this week with the Illinois State Board of Elections.
The 25-to-1 campaign cash disparity underscores the hurdles facing Bailey and a weakened Illinois Republican Party seeking to deny Pritzker a third term.
The bulk of Pritzker’s political budget went into producing and airing campaign ads, along with staff and consulting fees. Bailey’s top expenses were for direct mail ads, staff, research and consulting fees.
Pritzker’s spending tab only represented about a third of the $65 million he dropped into his campaign fund over the summer.
The Hyatt hotel heir also sent about $3.5 million to the Democratic Party of Illinois and $1 million to the Cook County Democratic Party, among other contributions, leaving a staggering $44.4 million on hand for the final month of the campaign season.
With a Forbes-estimated net worth of $4.2 billion, Pritzker has invested more than $430 million in his three gubernatorial campaigns, along with his contributions to numerous other Democrats and liberal causes nationwide. The longtime megadonor is widely considered a 2028 presidential contender.
Bailey’s campaign raised $1.2 million and entered October with about $482,000 in the bank.
The biggest individual contribution to the downstate farmer’s bid of $24,000 came from Sheldon Schulte, owner of a southern Illinois construction firm.
Conservative megadonor Richard Uihlein cut a $6,900 check for Bailey in August, four years after pumping millions of dollars into his campaign.
Uihlein supported Ted Dabrowski over Bailey in the GOP primary. Republican donors have limited their investments in statewide candidates in deep-blue Illinois, where Democrats control all levers of state government.
That holds true in the General Assembly. Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch shored up his two main campaign war chests as he seeks to expand Democrats’ supermajority in his chamber, closing September with about $15.4 million available for the final push.
Illinois Senate President Don Harmon did the same for funds backing his caucus, entering October with some $23 million on hand.
Funds controlled by House Republican Minority Leader Tony McCombie amounted to about $1.8 million, while Senate Minority Leader John Curran was wielding about $2.3 million.