Governor's Childhood Home In Deerfield Featured In Campaign Ad

DEERFIELD, IL — In the final days before Election Day, candidates are making their closing arguments. Even in the most cutthroat of campaigns, the commercials tend to take a softer turn in the home stretch. The Illinois gubernatorial race is no exception, with Gov. Bruce Rauner's choosing the village of Deerfield as the backdrop for one of his final television ads of the campaign.

In the ad, Rauner stands in front of his childhood home and describes his memories of growing up in the 1960s and 70s in the Lake County suburb.

"Every house had between three and six kids in it," Rauner said in the ad. "Lots of fun memories playing with everybody." He said Deerfield was an example of the kind of community needed across the state.

"Wonderful neighborhoods for children with outstanding schools," Rauner said. "We need to make sure government is efficient so we can bring down the property taxes. I know even back then my parents used to talk about property taxes. They've always been high, and boy they've grown a lot in Illinois."

Polls have shown billionaire Democratic challenger J.B. Pritkzer with a double-digit lead over the multi-millionaire Republican incumbent. A month ago, sources told Crain's Rauner had "made his peace" with losing, but after an inspector general's report called the Pritzkers' removal of toilets from a Gold Coast mansion part of a "scheme to defraud" the governor has appeared to grow in confidence. A spokesperson for Rauner's campaign this week said Pritkzer's announcement of a Chicago rally Sunday with former President Barack Obama "proves that this race is much tighter than public polling and pundits have indicated, and the momentum is with Governor Rauner in this final stretch.”

As a result of the Deerfield campaign ad, WBBM-TV investigated the governor's birth certificate and learned that his age has been repeatedly misstated, including by the Republican Governors Association and Rauner's own campaign site. The governor was born in Chicago in 1956 (not 1957) before his family moved to the North Shore. His father was a lawyer and vice president of Motorola and his mother was a nurse. Rauner's primary residence is now in Winnetka, although he reportedly owns nine homes around the country.