UPDATED: Griffin Camp Pushes Back on Reports of a GOP Slate
Billionaire Ken Griffin’s camp is pushing back on The Illinoize’s report Thursday he was planning to finance a slate of GOP statewide candidates. While Griffin’s camp says he hasn’t spoken to any candidates, we’re told Griffin is using connected GOP emissaries to vet potential candidates.
A The Illinoize report Thursday that Illinois’ richest person, Ken Griffin, was planning to fund a slate of statewide GOP candidates in 2022 has led the billionaire to push back.
"We have real problems in Illinois with violence, corruption and profligate spending and I look forward to supporting candidates - be it Republican or Democrat - who will address these issues that plague our state,” Griffin said in a statement.
Griffin has said he would work to defeat Democratic incumbent JB Pritzker, who Griffin has had public spats with in recent months. Combined with his previous support for Republican candidates including former Governor Bruce Rauner, money spent against a Democrat Supreme Court Justice as well as Pritzker’s graduated income tax initiative in 2020, it’s unlikely Griffin would support a Democratic candidate.
A source familiar with Griffin’s thinking tells The Illinoize Griffin has not met any of the Republican candidates for Governor and he has not offered a dime to any potential candidate. Though, another source tells us Griffin is using top Republican insiders, like former Rauner Chief of Staff Mike Zolnierowicz, known in Republican circles as “Mike Z.” Zolnierowicz has not returned a message seeking comment.
(Disclosure: I worked under Mike Z on a campaign in 2012.)
Zolnierowicz’s connections to Rauner and the forces behind the group opposed to Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride in 2020 make it easy to connect the dots between the two sides. Zolnierowicz is also close to Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville), who is said to be the choice for Lt. Governor on Griffin’s potential ticket.
In the end, though, Griffin insiders tell us he hasn’t made a decision on who to support for Governor in 2022.
UPDATE (12:58 P.M.):
From the Pritzker campaign:
“We’ve seen this film before and we know it ends in fiscal mismanagement, budget crises, and dishonest leadership,” said campaign spokesperson Natalie Edelstein. “We will not allow Ken Griffin and his cronies to take us backwards with Bruce Rauner 2.0, and Illinoisans will surely reject his hand-picked candidate. Our state needs real leadership and Governor Pritzker is the only candidate committed to putting working families first.”
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