Bruce Rauner has sustained his lead in the Republican primary to run for Illinois governor despite a barrage of attacks from both sides of the aisle and a lawsuit against him filed by a coalition of labor unions. With early voting starting Monday, the effects of the attacks don’t seem to be enough to keep Rauner from securing the nomination.
Rauner has managed to hang on to the support of 35 percent of likely voters in the Republican primary according to a Feb. 25 poll by We Ask America. While the poll shows Rauner took a hit from the attack, losing about five points, he still has double the support of any other candidate. State Sen. Kirk Dillard is second in the polls, receiving 17 percent of the support. Around 20 percent of those polled are still undecided.
The attacks attempt to tie Rauner to Stuart Levine, an appointee of disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich who was also convicted on corruption charges. Rauner claims he did not know that Levine was being paid by a firm in which his company, GTCR, had an ownership stake. Rauner appeared in front of the Teacher Retirement System to seek more investments for educators’ pensions while Levine sat on the board.
“(Rauner) has a long history of pay-to-play activity in his personal, professional and political life,” Dillard said during last Thursday’s debate. The accusation is also the topic of an ad paid for by political action committees (PACs) supported by a coalition of unions from around the state.
To fight back against the accusations, Rauner spent millions of dollars on an ad campaign that depicts his opponents as “career