NYC's Bloomberg Contributing to Bill Daley's Illinois Governor Campaign

Last month, President Obama’s former Chief of Staff, Bill Daley, raised $800,000 in the first two and a half weeks since announcing his candidacy for Illinois Governor.

Crain’s Chicago Business reports that according to campaign spokesman Pete Giangreco, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Vice President Al Gore are among the “couple of hundred” early donors to get on board Daley’s campaign.

This is not Mayor Bloomberg’s first venture into Illinois politics. Earlier this year, Bloomberg’s Independence USA PAC contributed over $200 million to Democrat anti-gun extremist Robin Kelly in the special election to replace former Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. 

Thanks to Bloomberg’s deep pockets, Kelly defeated former Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson in the Democrat primary and went on to defeat conservative Republican Paul McKinley in the general election.

Of the estimated $800,000 raised so far, Giangreco says $100,000 came from Daley himself. In an interview with WLS Chicago, Daley told Bill Cameron that his brother, former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, has given the maximum-allowed $5,300 contribution.

Daley’s $800,000 is nearly a quarter million more than current Governor Pat Quinn raised in the first quarter; if Bloomberg gets as interested in the Illinois Governor’s mansion as he did over an Illinois congressional special election, this is likely to be the beginning of a heavily funded campaign to control the future of Illinois.