Quinn, Simon raise $5.1 million in election bid

Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn's campaign said Monday that he and his running mate raised nearly $5.1 million during the first half of the year, outpacing the $3.6 million raised by Republican state Sen. Bill Brady in their race to be Illinois governor.

Both campaigns said they had about $2.3 million in the bank heading into July, but Brady's totals don't include funds raised by his lieutenant governor running mate, Jason Plummer, who's numbers weren't yet available. Tuesday is the deadline to file campaign finance reports with the State Board of Elections.

Quinn is seeking his first full term in office. He took over from Gov. Rod Blagojevich in January 2009 after lawmakers booted Blagojevich from office over his arrest on federal corruption charges. Quinn's lieutenant governor running mate is Sheila Simon, the daughter of the late Sen. Paul Simon.

"Our contributions show voters know that Pat Quinn and Sheila Simon are the right leaders to keep growing our economy and bring jobs to the state," Ben Nuckels, Quinn's campaign manager, said in a statement.

Quinn campaign spokeswoman Mica Matsoff said Quinn's donations totaled $3.5 million to his campaign committee and another $1.6 million to the joint campaign committee he has with Simon.

Brady's campaign said robust fundraising by the state senator from Bloomington shows voters aren't happy with how the state is being run.

"It is clear to us that Bill Brady's message is resonating with the voters of Illinois throughout the state. We have received considerable support from thousands of contributors who we know are dissatisfied with the failed leadership of Pat Quinn," Brady spokeswoman Patty Schuh said.

Quinn said his campaign would file its financial disclosure forms with the state on Tuesday. Brady is also expected to file then.

Without the reports, few details are available about the candidates' fundraising, although Brady has said he collected donations from 4,200 individual donors.

Matsoff said 73 percent of Quinn's contributions were less than $500 and 40 percent were $150 or less.

The Green Party's Rich Whitney said he raised about $34,000, including in-kind contributions and loans, although most of the money came from donors.