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DailyNorthShore.com
Diamond Kings: New Trier’s Kevin Donahue earns Player of the Year honors. P34
Breaking bread — not bats — with a former White Sox outfielder. P42
SOCIAL SCENE
Local real estate experts hosted the unveiling of a new construction development in Lake Forest. P16 FOLLOW US:
NO. 245 | A JWC MEDIA PUBLICATION
THE RACE IS ON
From left: Chris Kennedy (Photography by Frank Ishman), J.B. Prizker, Gov. Bruce Rauner.
3 main gubernatorial candidates all closely tied to the North Shore BY DONALD LIEBENSON
T
he three highest-profile candidates for governor of Illinois have a few things in common. Each has close ties to the North Shore. Incumbent Bruce Rauner grew up in Deerfield and Lake Forest and lives in Winnetka, while his Democratic challengers, J.B. Pritzker and Chris Kennedy, born elsewhere to prominent families, later put down roots in Evanston and Kenilworth, respectively.
All three enjoy prominent name recognition, and each came to politics from the business world. Rauner was a private equity manager and venture capitalist. Entrepreneur and investor J.B. Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune and the brother to former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, is a backer of 1871, a tech hub based in the Merchandise Mart. Kennedy, son of Robert and Ethel
Kennedy, co-founded Top Box Foods, a non-profit that provides households in needs with access to healthy and affordable foods. The personal wealth of all three has become a campaign issue. The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform (ICPR), a non-profit and non-partisan group, is forecasting that this campaign could be the most expensive in American history. The election will be held on Nov. 6, 2018, but as of May
22, Rauner had raised nearly $71 million, which includes $50 million of his own money, Pritzker had raised $7.2 million and Kennedy $1.2 million, the ICPR reports. This does not include campaign funds raised by the other candidates, Daniel Biss, Ameya Pawar, Robert Daiber and Alexander Paterakis. Combined, this is already enough money to “exceed the cost of an average gubernatorial election,” according
to the ICPR. Prior to running for governor, Rauner had never sought public office. Pritzker waged an unsuccessful bid in the 1998 Democratic primary for a congressional seat that was won by Jan Schakowsky. Kennedy had previously considered a state senate run in 2009, but opted out. In advance of the March 2017 Continued on PG 12
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