Bruce Rauner, the Republican front-runner for the Illinois gubernatorial primary, has been pushed on the defensive by a series of attack ads that have been launched by Political Action Committees (PACs) on both sides of the political spectrum. The attack ads are trying to derail Rauner’s image before the March 18 primary.
The blitzkrieg of attack ads on Rauner come from at least four different sources and hit him on a variety of different issues. The Illinois Freedom PAC has spent $1.2 million on ads that tie Rauner to corrupt insider Stuart Levine. Meanwhile, the Republican Fund for Progress and Jobs has sent out a 12-page mailer to lay out the case against Rauner. Finally, he is also being attacked by the Jobs and Opportunity for Illinois PAC, which is funded by the Democratic Governors Association with the goal of giving Gov. Pat Quinn a head start in the general election, and a new PAC named the Property and Jobs Fund that has about $250,000 on hand.
“Pat Quinn is the worst governor in America, and the status quo in Springfield is failing the people of Illinois,” Chip Englander, the campaign manager for Rauner, said in a press release responding to the attack ads. “So it’s no surprise that Quinn’s biggest financial backers are spending millions trying to smear Bruce and try to help elect anyone who will continue the failed policies of the past.”
“Outside groups can go negative without risk of tarnishing the candidate they support,” Zachary Cook, a political science professor at DePaul, said. Political Action Committees are able to spend unlimited amounts of money to either support or oppose candidates as long as they do not plan or collaborate with a candidate. Cook continued to say that the recent increase in outside spending from Super PACs may be a cause of the influx in negative ads.
Rauner is one of four candidates in the Republican primary, but he is the clear front-runner, according to the most recent poll taken by the Chicago Tribune and WGN TV. The poll showed that 40 percent of the respondents supported Rauner in the primary. The closest candidate after Rauner was Bill Brady, with 20 percent supporting him.
Despite his lead, Cook believes that the ads will have an impact on the race, but it may be too late to affect the outcome of the primary.
“The problem is that the ads tell people not to vote for Rauner, but not who to vote for,” Cook said. “Unless the other primary candidates are able to rally the votes Rauner loses, it won’t matter.” According to Cook, the ads’ greatest effect will be that they work to define Rauner in a negative light before the general election.
Not only is Rauner ahead in the polls, he is also ahead in terms of fundraising. Between October and December of last year, Rauner was able to raise almost $4 million, according to financial disclosures filed with the state election board. Rauner has, however, dipped into his sizable fortune to fund his campaign. Much of the money was spent on a large-scale ad campaign to increase his name recognition among voters who have not seen Rauner’s name on a ballot before. The campaign left him with $396,000 on hand at the end of the quarter.
“It’s pretty clear as a trend that self financing your own campaign is a bad thing,” Cook said. “Rauner, however, seems to be the exception.” According to Cook, Rauner is facing no opponents who are in a position to be able to exploit his vulnerability and has been impressively disciplined compared to other candidates who have self-funded their campaigns.
