Obama To Stump For Pritzker, Illinois Democrats At Chicago Rally

CHICAGO — Former President Barack Obama will appear at a rally for Illinois Democratic candidates in Chicago ahead of Election Day. Obama is set to headline a Sunday afternoon event at the University of Illinois at Chicago in support of the campaigns of Democrats up and down the ballot, according to J.B. Pritzker's gubernatorial campaign. Pritkzer, along with attorney general candidate state Sen. Kwame Raoul, 6th District congressional candidate Sean Casten, 14th District congressional candidate Lauren Underwood, appear at the rally.

Obama is scheduled to arrive in Chicago after another rally in Indiana in support of local Democrats, including incumbent U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, who is running neck-and-neck with challenger Mike Braun, a former state representative.

The Chicago event will begin at 3 p.m. at the UIC Pavilion, 525 S. Racine Ave. Tickets are required and being distributed through the Pritzker campaign.

Raoul faces Erika Harold in the statewide race to replace retiring Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, while the two congressional candidates seek to replace Republican incumbents. Casten is squaring off against incumbent Rep. Peter Roskam and Underwood is running against Rep. Randy Hultgren.

Obama's campaign appearance, his first major rally in Chicago since leaving office nearly two years ago, comes a week after President Donald Trump held a campaign event in Murphysboro on behalf of Republican incumbent congressmen Rep. Mike Bost and Rep. Rodney Davis. Gov. Rauner attended the rally but was not mentioned by Trump and did not secure a planned meeting with the president.

Rauner's campaign suggested the rally was an attempt by his Democratic challenger to distract from recent controversies.

"J.B. Pritzker has spent the last month being investigated for tax fraud and sued for discrimination, so it’s no wonder he’s bringing in President Obama at the last minute," said Will Allison, communications director of Rauner's campaign. "This proves that this race is much tighter than public polling and pundits have indicated, and the momentum is with Gov. Rauner in this final stretch.”

Conducted in late September, the most recent public polling in the race for Illinois Governor showed Pritzker with a lead of more than 20 points over the incumbent, who registered only 27 percent support.

In the month of October, Pritzker has pumped an additional $25 million into his campaign. That brought the total amount of money he has spent on his campaign to more than $171.5 million, a national self-financing record that equates to about $20 per every registered voter in the state. His campaign spent about $723,000 a day last quarter, close to twice the rate of the governor.

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— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 31, 2018

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