Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) doesn’t see how Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic challenger J.B. Pritzker can get a fair return on the more than $105 million they combined to invest in their recent primary victories.
“It doesn’t matter what their message might be,” Batinick told the Will County Gazette. “At some point, you reach the point of diminishing returns because you can only spend so much money in a campaign and have it be useful in getting your message across. At some point, it becomes just about negativity.”
In the case of Rauner and Pritzker, the Chicago Tribune reported the final tab came to $105.2 million, with Pritzker leading the way by shelling out some $68.3 million.
Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield)
Deeper analysis concludes that shakes out to more than $100 per vote cast for each candidate, with Rauner having already set aside as much as $50 million for his re-election effort back in 2016.
“Good policy easily makes for the best politics,” Batinick, running for re-election in the 97th District, said. “The governor has to put forth good policy. I’ve heard some in his campaign and I think the voters of this state are looking to hear more.”
Batinick recently voiced his support for Rauner’s push for a full and balanced budget, adding that he fears what direction the state might further veer off in if such critically needed legislation isn’t soon enacted.
“Instability is bad for so many reasons and the economic harm it causes is real,” he previously told Will County Gazette.
Without such legislation, Batinick said, he thinks the state will continue to struggle with its mass out-migration problem, and more and more people will come to the conclusion that Illinois no longer offers them the best path forward.
The 97th District includes all or parts of Oswego, Plainfield and Shorewood.
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