Of the (rich) people, by the (rich) people, for the (rich) people
Illinois Senate Race Attracts 7 Candidates in Millionaire Range
By MONICA DAVEY
CHICAGO, March 5 — In a cramped radio studio on a recent morning, a handful of candidates for the United States Senate were heaping scorn on an absent opponent — one with higher poll ratings than theirs, and a lot more money.
"We're on the poverty level compared to him," Maria Pappas, a Democrat, complained. Another Democratic hopeful, Joyce Washington, said solemnly, "If we start believing that a megamillionaire can come in here and buy a seat, this is a sad day."
The man they were grumbling about, Blair Hull, is undeniably rich. A former securities trader who began his climb to wealth counting blackjack cards in Las Vegas, Mr. Hull has promised to spend as much as $40 million of his own money in this campaign, more than any Senate candidate in Illinois has ever done.
But while Mr. Hull's lavish spending made him an early Democratic front-runner, his are not the only deep pockets in this race, one of the most closely watched in the nation. Seven of the 15 candidates hoping to succeed Peter Fitzgerald, a millionaire who is not seeking a second term, fall in the millionaire range themselves. Four are Republicans and three are Democrats, including the two women who complained indignantly about Mr. Hull — Ms. Pappas and Ms. Washington.
Americans have grown used to seeing rich political novices seek office, but rarely has one race drawn so many. They include a dairy owner whose name is ubiquitous on milk bottles, an investment banker turned schoolteacher, a paper company executive and a doctor turned high-tech entrepreneur. Of the 10 Senate candidates across the country who had given the most money to their own campaigns by the start of this year, 5 were running in Illinois, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
"This is a race of the rich and of the really rich," said David Morrison, deputy director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, a nonpartisan group. Six years ago, critics griped that Mr. Fitzgerald, a Republican and a relative unknown, was trying to buy the seat with $13 million of his own money. "Some of the rich people in this one," Mr. Morrison said, "would make Senator Fitzgerald look like a piker."
