Get ready for a pricey Illinois governor's race.
Gov. Pat Quinn's campaign fund is flush with nearly $8.8 million, Crain's Chicago Business reports. While his Republican opponent, Bruce Rauner, managed to raise about $9 million this year, he spent most of it to win the GOP primary in March.
As of March 31, Crain's reports Rauner's camp has about $1.4 million left, giving Quinn a clear edge in money.
Money drove Rauner's political identity early on, and his primary election challengers took notice, criticizing his cash and connections. This year he managed to break a record for personal funding in a campaign for Illinois governor.
Rauner is gaining in other ways. An early Rasmussen Reports poll released Monday showed him grabbing 43 percent of votes from likely Illinois voters, while Quinn took 40 percent and 10 percent were undecided.
Quinn and Rauner met for the first time in the 2014 campaign for Illinois governor last week at a meeting with the Illinois Education Association in Chicago.
Quinn called Rauner "the biggest threat to public education in the state of Illinois." Rauner has called Quinn the worst governor in America.
