Republican candidate Bruce Rauner has given more than $20 million to his own campaign to unseat incumbent Governor Pat Quinn (D., Ill.), according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Although Rauner has occasionally been compared to fellow financier-politician Mitt Romney, his contributions to his own campaign reportedly dwarf Romney’s own self-funding efforts. But as a wealthy venture capitalist worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Rauner’s donations will probably serve to reinforce the tycoon stereotype anyway. Rauner has tried to present a more humble image at times during the campaign, appearing in an ad with his “ugly van” and touting his $18 watch, but he has struggled to eliminate the impression left by his membership in a wine club that costs six figures to join.
Rauner’s latest contribution to his campaign comes after President Obama and President Clinton visited Illinois this week to campaign for Quinn. Following a series of heated debates between with Quinn, Rauner emerged with the endorsements of Illinois’s two major newspapers, the Chicago Tribune and the Sun-Times. But the Republican has lost the substantial lead in the polls he enjoyed earlier this summer, and the race is essentially tied.