Bruce Rauner

Bruce Rauner

Republican Party

Prior offices

Governor of Illinois

Successor: J.B. Pritzker

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Elections and appointments

Last election

November 6, 2018

Education

Bachelor's

Dartmouth College

Graduate

Harvard University

Personal

Profession

Venture capitalist

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Bruce Rauner (Republican Party) was the Governor of Illinois. He assumed office on January 12, 2015. He left office in 2019.

Rauner (Republican Party) ran for re-election for Governor of Illinois. He lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.

Biography

An Illinois native, Rauner attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. After graduation, Rauner went on to earn an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

After graduating from Harvard, Rauner moved back to Illinois and launched his career with the investment firm Golder, Thoma, Cressey (later GTCR).

Education

• B.A., Dartmouth College
• M.B.A., Harvard University

Political career

Governor of Illinois (2015-2019)

Rauner was the 42nd governor of Illinois. A Republican, Rauner assumed the governorship on January 12, 2015. He succeeded Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. Rauner defeated Quinn in the 2014 general election. Rauner served until 2019. J.B. Pritzker (D) defeated Rauner in the November 2018 general election.

Elections

2018

See also: Illinois gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018

See also: Illinois gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018 (March 20 Republican primary)

General election

General election for Governor of Illinois

J.B. Pritzker defeated incumbent Bruce Rauner, William McCann, and Grayson Jackson in the general election for Governor of Illinois on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		J.B. Pritzker (D)	54.5	2,479,746
		Bruce Rauner (R)	38.8	1,765,751
		William McCann (Conservative Party)	4.2	192,527
		Grayson Jackson (L)	2.4	109,518
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	115

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,547,657
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Illinois

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of Illinois on March 20, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		J.B. Pritzker	45.1	597,756
		Daniel K. Biss	26.7	353,625
		Chris Kennedy	24.4	322,730
		Tio Hardiman	1.6	21,075
		Bob Daiber	1.1	15,009
		Robert Marshall	1.1	14,353

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 1,324,548
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Illinois

Incumbent Bruce Rauner defeated Jeanne M. Ives in the Republican primary for Governor of Illinois on March 20, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bruce Rauner	51.5	372,124
		Jeanne M. Ives	48.5	350,038

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 722,162
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for Governor of Illinois

Grayson Jackson defeated Matthew Scaro and Jon Stewart in the Libertarian primary for Governor of Illinois on March 20, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Grayson Jackson
		Matthew Scaro
		Jon Stewart

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2014

See also: Illinois gubernatorial election, 2014

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Bruce Rauner/Evelyn Sanguinetti	50.3%	1,823,627
	Democratic	Pat Quinn/Paul Vallas Incumbent	46.3%	1,681,343
	Libertarian	Chad Grimm/Alex Cummings	3.4%	121,534
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0%	1,186
Total Votes				3,627,690
Election results via Illinois State Board of Elections

Governor and Lt. Governor of Illinois, Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Bruce Rauner & Evelyn Sanguinetti	40.1%	328,934
Kirk Dillard & Jil Tracy	37.2%	305,120
Bill Brady & Maria Rodriguez	15.1%	123,708
Dan Rutherford & Steve Kim	7.6%	61,948
Total Votes		819,710
Election results via Illinois State Board of Elections.

Campaign themes

2018

Campaign website

Rauner's campaign website stated the following:

“	Illinois is worth fighting for Our state has been held back for decades by the same politicians that have only made government work for themselves, not for the people. We're working to enact reforms that shake up the broken status quo and return power to the people of Illinois. The people of our state deserve a government that works for them instead of the politically-connected. With bipartisan reforms, we’ll grow good jobs, deliver value for taxpayers, give every child access to world-class schools, and enact term limits to get rid of career politicians. We’ll make Illinois a state where families and businesses thrive once again. Let’s get to work – because Illinois is worth fighting for. Standing Up for Taxpayers Hardworking Illinois taxpayers have been burdened for too long by career politicians who would rather spend your money than do the people's work. Mike Madigan's permanent 32 percent income tax hike hurts families and businesses. I've proposed a plan to roll back Madigan's tax hike and give Illinois families a $1 billion tax cut, keeping more money in your pocket and giving a boost to the state's economy. For decades, special interests and political insiders controlled Illinois for their benefit and left taxpayers holding the bill. I want to make sure that taxpayers come first, and that state government delivers value for your hard-earned tax dollars. That’s why I was proud to veto Mike Madigan’s permanent 32 percent income tax hike and to have proposed a plan to roll it back with a $1 billion tax cut. And it’s why I’m fighting for lasting property tax relief by freezing property taxes and giving local communities more flexibility to control their costs and lower taxes. We’ve also saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by rooting out fraud, cutting wasteful spending in state operating costs, and negotiating innovative government contracts. Criminal Justice Reform Fixing a broken system takes time and consistent effort, which is why my administration is committed to creating lasting reform to address the systemic issues in our criminal justice system. For too long, an ineffective and counterproductive criminal justice system plagued our state, tearing families apart and hurting communities of color. That’s why I worked to bring Republicans, Democrats, and law enforcement together to begin to fix it. Unlike past Governors, my priority is on rehabilitation, not dangerous early release programs. In just the past two years, I’ve signed over two-dozen bipartisan criminal justice reform bills. We’re increasing access to job training and opportunities, giving offenders the tools to lead productive lives after they’ve served their time. We’re making the criminal justice system fairer because everyone, no matter their background, deserves to be treated equally before the law. 21st Century Jobs Entrenched politicians have put a stranglehold on the Illinois economy. I am working to energize our state's economy, bringing in businesses and creating good-paying jobs. Illinois’ central location, fertile agriculture lands, and world-class communities, combined with the best, hardest-working people in America means our state should be thriving. We have everything going for us except decades of crony politics and bad policy has held us back. I am working hard to make Illinois more competitive and to help create more good-paying jobs. That means working to lower the cost of doing business by reforming Illinois’ expensive workers compensation system, reining in out-of-control lawsuit abuse, and freezing property taxes. It also means modernizing Illinois’ economic development efforts so they move at the speed of business. Even though the career politicians and special interests are trying to block these reforms, we’ve worked to bring thousands of new, good-paying jobs to Illinois. We brought nearly 8,000 Amazon jobs to Joliet, Monee and Romeoville. We brought Rivian Automotive to Normal, where 1,500 jobs will be created. We brought Flex-N-Gate and hundreds of quality jobs to Chicago’s South Side. And with the Future Energy Jobs Act, we are now leading the Midwest in clean energy jobs and will continue to create thousands of new green energy jobs throughout the state in addition to saving thousands of jobs across Illinois. Cleaning Up Government Illinois' career politicians have forgotten the reason they were sent to Springfield: to represent the people of our state. We must enact real reforms to give power back to the people of Illinois - where it belongs. Illinois’ political system is broken, and it’s going to take real reforms to fix it. Our state is controlled by a political machine and special interests who will do anything to protect the status quo. I’m working to clean up Springfield by getting rid of illegal patronage hires and implementing ethics reforms to stop the revolving door between lobbyists and government. Illinois voters deserve to choose their elected officials, not the other way around. That’s why I’m fighting for term limits and fair maps to make elections more competitive and ensure politicians are genuinely accountable to voters. Improving Education Every student in Illinois deserves an education that prepares them for success in college, their careers, and life. We need higher standards, effective funding, and more choice and control for parents and communities. We’ve fully funded education for the first time in years, increasing K-12 education funding by $1.2 billion, and we brought early childhood education funding to historic levels. And this year, we signed a historic education reform law that provides tax credits for scholarship programs which gives educational choice to low-income families, provides more funding for school districts most in need, brings parity in funding for charter schools, and removes onerous state mandates to give local communities more control.	”
—Citizens for Rauner

Campaign advertisements

The following is an example of an ad from Rauner's 2018 election campaign.

"Change Doesn't Come Easy" - Rauner campaign ad, released October 4, 2018

2014

“

Jobs: On Rauner's campaign website, he outlined his plan to bring jobs to Illinois. Along with a complete overhaul of the current tax code, Rauner also planned to create "Right-to-Work" zones, enact tort reform, and reform the compensation system to make Illinois more competitive for workers from the Midwest. On the Right to Work issue, Rauner said, "What I’m a proponent of is allowing local governments in the state of Illinois — counties and municipalities — to decide for themselves whether to be Right to Work... For counties and municipalities that don’t want employee freedom, they can do that." Government Spending and Pension Reform: If elected, Rauner stated that he would "audit every dime," and modify the current pension system. On his campaign website, Rauner says he would make these changes to the state's pension system. "Ensure pay and benefits do not rise faster than the rate of inflation." "Eliminate the ability of government employees to receive massive pay raises before they retire just to increase their pension." "Cap the current system and move towards a defined contribution system." Government Reform + Term limits: See also Illinois Term Limits for Legislators Amendment (2014) Rauner would like to enforce an eight-year term limit for governors, and push for term limits for the Illinois legislature. "We are the worst-run state in America with the most corrupt politicians in America...It’s time we dramatically shake up the system and get rid of these career politicians. We want regular, everyday people who are going into public service for the right reasons." Education: If elected, Rauner promised he would implement penalties for teachers whose performance was not up to state standards and increase the percentage of education money spent on teachers and classroom technology while lessening the amount spent on administration. School choice: "I’m a big believer that we need to empower parents with choice." "Too many children are trapped in failing schools, and if their parents don’t have sufficient income to choose a different school or move or fund private school, then they’re stuck." "Milwaukee has had a longstanding voucher program, and Indiana has put in place, I think, a very good voucher program." Tax extension: "I’d veto it so fast it would make your head spin... We have got to reduce the tax burden on our economy, on homeowners, we’ve got to reduce the spending." Corporate incentives: "We are a regulation heavy, restrictive, heavy bureaucracy state," Rauner said in a gubernatorial debate held in late February in Springfield. "We need to become pro-free enterprise and pro-growth again so we are stealing businesses back from Indiana rather than the other way around."

”

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Bruce Rauner campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2014	Governor of Illinois	Won	$46,356,820	N/A**
Grand total			$46,356,820	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Noteworthy events

Signing of House Bill 40

On May 10, 2017, the state legislature passed House Bill 40. The bill removed a clause in Illinois state law that would have made abortion illegal in Illinois should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn its ruling in Roe v. Wade. It also required that Medicaid and state employee health insurance plans cover abortion. Rauner signed the bill on September 28, 2017, leading to criticism by opponents of the bill within the Illinois Republican Party, who argued that the governor had indicated in the spring that he would issue a veto if given the opportunity. A Chicago Tribune story published shortly after Rauner's signature reported that state Rep. Peter Breen (R) had called for members of the Illinois Republican Party to unite behind a candidate to challenge Rauner. Upon signing the bill, Rauner stated, "I am being true to my values and my views. I have always been true to those. … I have to make a decision. I have to do what I believe is right for the people of Illinois. And I have to be consistent with my values."

Did Gov. Bruce Rauner flip-flop on abortion bill?
November 1, 2017: On September 28, 2017, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signed House Bill 40 (HB 40), which authorized public funding of abortion through Medicaid and state employee health insurance. In response, state Sen. Dan McConchie (R) claimed that Rauner had made a "public commitment...to veto this bill.”
Did Gov. Rauner make a public commitment to veto HB 40? Read Ballotpedia's fact check »

Negotiations with public employee unions

On July 1, 2015, the collective bargaining agreement between the state of Illinois and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) expired. Representatives from the governor's office and the employee unions began negotiations. Rauner argued that the requested wage and benefit increases were too high, saying that the recent expiration of income tax increases made union requests unaffordable.

The union proposed a plan whereby the dispute would be mediated by a neutral party in a binding arbitration process. This plan was sponsored as a piece of legislation by former AFSCME union member Rep. Mike Smiddy (D). On July 29, 2015, Rauner vetoed the bill, saying that it "would cede major financial decisions to unelected, unaccountable arbitrators."

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate aimed to override Gov. Rauner's veto but fell short of the required vote in the House. Seventy-one votes were needed in order to override the veto, and 68 representatives voted in favor.

Stance on Syrian refugee resettlement

Main article: U.S. governors and their responses to Syrian refugees

Following the Paris terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015, in which members of the Islamic State (ISIS) killed at least 129 people and wounded more than 350, reports surfaced showing that one of the terrorists responsible for the attacks in Paris may have come to France posing as a Syrian refugee. Many governors issued statements of support or opposition to President Obama’s (D) plan to allow 10,000 new Syrian refugees into the United States. Rauner had conditional opposition to the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the state of Illinois. He said:

“	Our nation and our state have a shared history of providing safe haven for those displaced by conflict, but the news surrounding the Paris terror attacks reminds us of the all-too-real security threats facing America. We must find a way to balance our tradition as a state welcoming of refugees while ensuring the safety and security of our citizens. ...the state of Illinois will temporarily suspend accepting new Syrian refugees and consider all of our legal options pending a full review of our country’s acceptance and security processes by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.	”
—Gov. Bruce Rauner

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
When he served as governor, Rauner and his wife, Diana Mendley Rauner, had six children.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for Bruce + Rauner + Illinois + Governor

Bruce Rauner News Feed

External links

Suggest a link

• Bruce Rauner official campaign website

• Flickr
• YouTube

• Summary, biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Profile at Wikipedia
• Collected news and commentary at The Huffington Post
• Collected news and commentary at The Washington Times
• Collected news and commentary at CBS Chicago
• Collected news and commentary at WTTW Chicago Tonight
• Campaign contributions to Citizens for Rauner at the Illinois State Board of Elections

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Pat Quinn (D)	Governor of Illinois 2015–2019	Succeeded by J.B. Pritzker (D)