Lake Forest Billionaire Gives $1 Million To Darren Bailey Campaign

LAKE FOREST, IL — Local billionaire Dick Uihlein this week contributed $1 million to State Sen. Darren Bailey's bid for the Republican Party's nomination for Illinois governor, according to state elections records.

Uihlein, the co-founder and chief executive officer of the Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin-based packaging company Uline, and his wife, Liz, the company's president, are prolific donors to conservative causes and candidates at the state and federal level.

Bailey said the donation marked a significant breakthrough for his campaign.

"Probably the most conservative family, probably in the country — the Uihlein family — got behind us with an initial amount, and with a promise of more to come," the Louisville Republican said in a social media video. "So that was amazing. People are seeing what our movement is."

Tuesday's seven-figure donation marks Uihlein's largest political contribution since he supported the 2018 gubernatorial campaign of former State Rep. Jeannie Ives, who lost to former Gov. Bruce Rauner by less than 3 percentage points in the Republican primary before Rauner was defeated by J.B. Pritzker in a blowout that fall.

As of last month, the Uihleins had donated about $154 million in federal elections since 2015, including more than $12 million in federal races so far in 2022, according to the Center for Media and Democracy.

Uihlein's donation came a day after hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, the state's richest man, donated $20 million to the campaign of Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin.

Bailey told supporters Republicans who have been supporting Irvin, his candidate for lieutenant governor State Sen. Avery Bourne (R-Litchfield) and the rest of a slate of Griffin-backed candidates probably only care about the money.

"Friends, I've been telling you from day one, money is not going to win this election. Grassroots is going to win this election," he said. "We have the grassroots, by the grace of God, ever since I sued and won against J.B. Pritzker on July 2nd of 2020, ever since I stood up against the mask mandate and got kicked out of general assembly in August of 2020, the grassroots movement has been building."

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