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JB Pritzker puts $7M into campaign for Illinois governor

 CHICAGO (AP) - Billionaire businessman J.B. Pritzker has contributed $7 million to his campaign fund for Illinois governor. 

The donation confirmed Saturday by a campaign spokeswoman comes over a week after the Democrat officially launched his campaign to unseat Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. 

It was already expected to be an expensive race. 

Rauner, a former private equity investor, put $50 million of his own money into a re-election fund in December. Pritzker is the founder of a private investment firm and an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune. 

Also running is Democratic businessman Chris Kennedy, who donated $250,100 to his campaign, and raised $1 million in the first six weeks of his candidacy. 

Other Democrats seeking the nomination in the March primary include state Sen. Daniel Biss and Chicago Alderman Ameya Pawar. 
 

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.