* Sen. Kirk Dillard sounds a bit peevish about the defection of Ron Gidwitz to Bruce Rauner’s campaign. Gidwitz was Dillard’s campaign chairman in 2010…

“(Gidwitz) is a Chicago multimillionaire with strong ties to city hall, like Mr. Rauner, the billionaire that he’s for. So it’s not a surprise and they are both social moderates,” Dillard said. […]

Dillard adds that he’s learned from his mistakes of his 2010 campaign for governor. The Hinsdale Republican says he started that campaign too late.

Dillard has moved hard to the right since losing that ‘10 primary to Bill Brady and it shows in that quote. But his campaign committees have filed just three A-1’s this month for a total of only $18,500. He’s been hurt by the defection and, once again, he waited too long to start working.

* The AP looks at the rich people lining up behind Rauner…

Rauner is a billionaire who — at least financially speaking — doesn’t need the help, and money doesn’t always decide Illinois primary races. But if the pattern holds, it could make it difficult for his opponents — state Sens. Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard and Treasurer Dan Rutherford — to fight back with television advertising, mailers or fly-around events, particularly in crucial weeks before the March primary election.

“That’s going to be their problem, I believe,” said Ron Gidwitz, a former Illinois Republican party chairman and gubernatorial candidate who’s serving as Rauner’s finance chairman. […]

“There’s a certain time in which (known candidates) have to say ‘I’ve tried often enough, it’s time to step back,’” said Elizabeth Christie, a retired executive and one of the biggest donors to the state GOP who gave $20,000 to Brady’s 2010 bid and is now a chairwoman of Rauner’s campaign. “I believe a lot of donors are saying it’s time … and I think you’re seeing that in the numbers.” […]

Rauner’s numbers were boosted by a who’s who of GOP donors — including at least half of more than a dozen individuals who regularly help bankroll GOP campaigns in Illinois, according to an Associated Press review of campaign finance data. The group includes Citadel CEO Ken Griffin and hedge fund manager Anne Dias Griffin — who gave a combined $450,000 to Brady’s failed 2010 gubernatorial bid — and a trio of contributors who accounted for almost one-fifth of the money Dillard received during that year’s primary.

* And the Sun-Times wrote about a subscribers-only poll last week, so here it is…

The field of Republican candidates for the governorship still has no clear-cut frontrunner, though Brady is in the lead, according to a Capitol Fax poll of 1,102 likely Republican primary voters released this week. […]

Brady had 21 percent of those surveyed, compared to 17 percent for Rutherford, 14 percent for Rauner and 10 percent for Dillard.