Illinois may have no money to spend on higher education or various social services. But its leaders have plenty to spend on politics. Some of the primary races in early March were the most expensive in state history. That does not appear to concern Governor Bruce Rauner.
All told, $10 million was spent on just two races for the legislature. Gov. Rauner himself, or his campaign fund anyway, shoveled much of the money into those record-spending primaries. It's hard to tell just how much: Contributions to certain groups don't have to be disclosed.
That's led to calls for more transparency. Rauner won't say if that's something he supports.
"I'm sure a lot of people have different ideas about campaign finance and campaign finance reform. That's all lovely. That's a great topic for another day. That’s not something I'm going to talk about today."
Sarah Brune is director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, one of the groups that's calling for changes. She says it's important for voters to know who's bankrolling Illinois politicians.
"Well it's definitely frustrating if anyone doesn't take this issue seriously."
Both of the candidates Rauner and his allies spent most heavily on ended up losing.
