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* From Joel B. Pollak, Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News…
Conservative State Representative Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) received a massive donation last week from Lake Forest businessman Richard Uihlein, who formerly backed incumbent Republican Governor Bruce Rauner.
Crain’s Chicago Business reports that Uihlein wrote Ives’s insurgent campaign a $500,000 check Jan. 24, giving it a boost even as Rauner attempts to look past the March 20 primary and towards likely Democratic nominee J.B. Pritzker.
Massive?
Um, dude. This is 2018 Illinois A Democratic candidate has already put $42.2 million into his own race and the Republican governor has self-funded to the tune of $50 million so far and raised another $23 million.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:12 am
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Wish I had half a million to flush away
Comment by BlackHawk Boone Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:14 am
Joel Pollak is a tool, but while it’s not a game changer, ya gotta admit $500,000 is a pretty huge check. It doubled her COH in one check. I’d like to get one of those…
Comment by Chicago Cynic Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:15 am
Eh… it would be the biggest donation to anyone in this race not named Rauner or Pritzker. So yeah, notwithstanding the garbage source, massive seems about right.
Comment by Forgetting Robert Marshall Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:16 am
Rich’s context is undisputed, but I still think 500k is massive. Not trying to condone breitbart.
Comment by Rutro Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:17 am
==while it’s not a game changer, ya gotta admit $500,000 is a pretty huge check. It doubled her COH in one check.==
Indeed it is, but my question is, how much visibility does it buy her? You can count direct mail in that, too, if you like. While I doubt Ives could ever beat Rauner, she could really hurt him if she gets her message out there. But it doesn’t seem like a half a mil will do that.
Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:18 am
Genius. It’s in reality pocket lint money but it looks impressive to the extreme right wing supporters of Ives.
Comment by a drop in Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:19 am
Our top tier State Rep primaries are $5 million races. The state has 10 media markets, how far is $500,000 going to get you?
Comment by The Captain Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:20 am
When a billionaire bids against a multi millionaire incumbent, a half million doesn’t look like much anymore.
But a half million in a 30 day campaign can be a good thing.
Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:21 am
I seen an article in the Chicago Tribune I think it was and it said he donated her $500,000 and more is to come.
Comment by Real Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:23 am
Come on Rich, that’s what you’re going to quibble about? I know you’re better than that. 500K that’s probably near half what she’s raised in total to date can reasonably be called “massive.” Not chickenfeed in any case.
If Ives was running the kind of race she should be running it wouldn’t take that much money to beat Rauner in a primary.
Comment by Chris P. Bacon Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:28 am
===Not chickenfeed in any case===
Correct. But, in context, not massive.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:31 am
Nice to see Pollak found work after his failure in Illinois politics.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:31 am
==While it’s not a game changer==
Spot on. A $500K donation from a single donor is massive.
Comment by Abraham Obama Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:32 am
If spent wisely, it can be effective, especially if there’s more to come. With really big money, after a certain point, you get diminishing returns. In fact, if a voter sees the same commercial too many times, it could become counter-productive. So, $20 million doesn’t get you twice the effectiveness of $10 million.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:35 am
If my arithmetic is right ($500,000 ÷ $50,000,000) Uihlein’s “massive donation” is one percent of what Rauner has dumped into the race.
Yikes.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:55 am
===one percent of what Rauner has dumped into the race. ===
Yep. In context, not massive. It’s a not very strong week of Chicago broadcast TV.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:56 am
Probably not massive. Possibly significant. Gives Ives a little walking around money to test the waters and get her message out. If it plays well, Uihlein might clip a few more coupons and increase her allowance.
Comment by 37B Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 11:00 am
If my arithmetic is right ($500,000 ÷ $50,000,000) Uihlein’s “massive donation” is one percent of what Rauner has dumped into the race.
But Rauner isn’t spending 50 million in a primary so it’s more than 1 percent.
Comment by Real Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 11:04 am
“In context, not massive ”
So let’s chip in and buy the guy a thesaurus. Compared to most campaign contributions, compared to average household annual wages, compared to typical housing prices around the state (not Gold Coast), it is massive, if not record setting.
So what word works better? “Mammoth?” “Gargantuan?” “Colossal?” The scale keeps shifting.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 11:28 am
===So what word works better?===
Inadequate.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 11:30 am
I agree with Rich here. I’m not sure I’d make any kind of big deal about this contribution and let others organically knock up the importance of it. The old adage remains true, “Don’t act like you haven’t been here before”.
Even if you haven’t.
Comment by A guy Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 11:48 am
1. 500K is not “massive”, considered against even-smaller-stake races with an overabundance of donations, as others noted. Calling the donation “large” or “groundbreaking for Ives” would have been reasonable.
2. It is far more telling that Uihlein did not give the money to Rauner; does this mean other big money donors will follow suit?
Comment by rivvedup Tuesday, Jan 30, 18 @ 10:31 pm