SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - The race for Illinois governor has become the most expensive in state history.
The top contenders are incumbent Bruce Rauner and challenger J.B. Pritzker. Rauner a multimillionaire and Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, have combined for record spending of well over $240 million, according to state finance records.
They have spent nearly $120 million in advertising since their campaigns began last year.
"The amount of money you have to spend does affect the tone of the campaign when you have a deluge of ads, but you also don't get a lot of answers as to where the real problems are and what are we going to do to solve them," said University of Illinois-Springfield Emeritus of Political Science Kent Redfield. "You do get a lot of information about how someone was failed as governor and a lot of information about how Pritzker is not qualified."
Alisa Kaplan, who is policy director of reform for Illinois, says all that self-funded spending cries for campaign finance reform. Kaplan says it gives fewer candidates the most exposure and creates "a very distorted view of the political discourse because the wealthy people who can afford to get their message out with more frequency, outreach, and intensity than less wealthy candidates".
UIS Student Joseph Monack plans to vote.
"It's all we really have. If you want to change something, what else are you going to do ... like voting is to voice your opinion for a say in government," he said. "All we can do is try, all we can do is vote."
Counties across the area have seen record early voting. Now it will be time to count the votes along with all the money spent.
