From time to time when the Governor files a new A-1 including (relatively) small donations from supporters someone will ask why donors are contributing to Rauner given his capacity to self fund. With such a large amount of the funding on the Republican side during the 2016 cycle coming from Rauner and just a few of his wealthy allies it's easy to mistakenly assume that his donor pool in 2014 was small as well but that was not actually the case.
Here is a breakdown of Governor Rauner's fundraising in 2014:
Citizens for Rauner, Inc.
Campaign Fundraising up to Election Day 2014
| Contributor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Bruce Rauner | $27,526,000.00 |
| Republican Governors Association | $8,689,000.00 |
| Ken Griffin | $5,589,295.18 |
| Illinois Republican Party | $3,289,648.10 |
| Richard Uihlein | $605,300.00 |
| The Rest | $24,234,633.54 |
| Subtotal | $69,933,876.82 |
Fundraising on December 31, 2014
| Contributor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Bruce Rauner | $10,000,000.00 |
| Ken Griffin | $8,000,000.00 |
| Richard Uihlein | $2,000,000.00 |
| Subtotal | $20,000,000.00 |
| Cycle Total | $89,933,876.82 |
|---|
Not including the $20 million Rauner added on New Year's Eve 2014, he raised just shy of $70 million for the 2014 Governor's race, although about $8 million of that was transferred to the Illinois Republican Party. In 2014 about $46 million of Rauner's total came from himself, the state and national party and his few wealthy allies but he still raised over $24 million from traditional Republican supporters and other various donors. That is roughly comparable to the $23 million Rod Blagojevich spent in 2002 to win the Governor's race, a not insignificant amount. Even though Bruce Rauner is currently sitting on $70 million ($50 million from himself, $20 million from Ken Griffin) he's likely to continue to raise money from traditional sources for the remainder of the election.
