Billionaire J.B. Pritzker has won the Democratic primary for Illinois governor, setting up a general election that could be the most expensive governor's race in U.S. history.
Pritzker on Tuesday defeated five other candidates, including businessman Chris Kennedy and state Sen. Daniel Biss, to win the nomination. He'll face Gov. Bruce Rauner in November, who narrowly defeated state Rep. Jeanne Ives in the Republican primary.
Pritzker, a Chicago businessman and heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, put roughly $70 million of his own money into his campaign, spending heavily on advertising and staffing campaign offices across Illinois.
He had support from many in the Democratic establishment who see his wealth as a key to unseating Rauner, a multimillionaire.
Gubernatorial primary results 97% of precincts reporting
Democrats
- J.B. Pritzker: 562,837 -- 45.4%
- Daniel Biss: 328,854 -- 26.5%
- Chris Kennedy: 299,978 -- 24.2%
- Tio Hardiman: 20,149 -- 1.6%
- Bob Daiber: 14,641 -- 1.2%
- Robert Marshall: 13,985 -- 1.1%
Republicans
- Bruce Rauner: 351,086 -- 51.5%
- Jeanne Ives: 330,227 -- 48.5%
Urbana attorney and former Miss America Erika Harold won the Republican primary for Illinois attorney general. She beat out litigation attorney Gary Grasso for the nomination.
Harold, who is backed by the GOP establishment, received campaign contributions from Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. Despite those connections, she has positioned herself as a "reform-minded, political outsider'' who wants to offer a bipartisan approach to criminal-justice reform and other issues.
She also wants to take on what she sees as a corrupt political machine run by Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat.
On the Democratic side, state Sen. Kwame Raoul emerged as winner in a crowded primary race. Former governor Pat Quinn called Raoul to concede the race late Tuesday evening. The two led the field of eight by a strong margin, with Raoul coming out on top by just a few percentage points in the end.
Attorney General primary results 97% of precincts reporting
Democrats
- Kwame Raoul: 366,875 -- 30.3%
- Pat Quinn: 333,434 -- 27.5%
- Sharon Fairley: 151,554 -- 12.5%
- Nancy Rotering: 112,644 -- 9.3%
- Scott Drury: 95,630 -- 7.9%
- Jesse Ruiz: 66,524 -- 5.5%
- Renato Mariotti: 48,623 -- 4.0%
- Aaron Goldstein: 37,325 -- 3.1%
Republicans
- Erika Harold: 367,939 -- 59.3%
- Gary Grasso: 252,089 -- 40.7%