Billionaire Ken Griffin has more than doubled his investment in the GOP candidate for governor of Illinois with a $25 million donation in an effort to boot Democratic incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker, according to reports this week.
Griffin, a Chicago billionaire who runs hedge fund giant Citadel and owns the enormous market-making firm Citadel Securities, vowed to go “all in” to make sure Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker is defeated.
Finance records showed Thursday that Griffin provided Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin with $25 million in campaign funds after initially providing $20 million in seed money, the Chicago Tribune first reported.
Irvin has been gearing up for the seat by focusing on TV ads and campaign pamphlets, though the local news outlet noted he has yet to hit the public arena in a big way.
Griffin, the state’s wealthiest person, vowed to take on the Democratic governor following a two-year global pandemic that left many frustrated over mandate policies coupled with a rise in violent crime.
“I’m going to make sure that if he runs again, that I am all-in to support the candidate who will beat him,” Griffin said during a November 2021 event. “He doesn’t deserve to be the governor of our state.”
Irvin could face a tough election as he prepares to take on the incumbent Democrat in a state that has trended blue in every presidential election since 1992.
Pritzker won the governor’s seat in 2018 and pushed out incumbent GOP governor Bruce Rauner, who served one term before being defeated.
Pritzker secured the 2018 election with nearly 714,000 more votes than Rauner, a 15.7% margin of victory.
This is an excerpt from Fox News.
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.
