Illinois GOP primary TV spending tops $10 million

Led by the deep-pocketed campaign of Bruce Rauner, more than $10 million was spent on Chicago-area television ads for and against GOP candidates for Illinois governor leading up to the primary election.

The bulk of that was spent by Rauner, a wealthy private investor who raised more than $8 million and injected another $6 million of his own money into his race. Since last fall, his campaign bought more than $7.1 million of advertising time on Chicago TV stations, according to market sources, and about $1.1 million on Chicago-area cable television. Figures for downstate were not available.

The next closest campaign advertiser was State Sen Kirk Dillard (R-District 24), who spent less than $175,000 on broadcast TV and about $250,000 on cable, sources said.

But outside groups advocating for Sen Dillard's election, or Rauner's defeat, pushed total ad spending well over $10 million. Led by Illinois Freedom Political Action Committee, a labor-backed super PAC that ran ads opposing Rauner, more than $1.7 million was spent on television advertising time by independent expenditure groups, according to the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, a Chicago-based watchdog group.