Springfield, Ill. • This state’s story, which lately has been depressing, soon will acquire a riveting new chapter. In 2018 Illinois will have the nation’s most important, expensive and strange election.
Its importance derives from this fact: Self-government has failed in the nation’s currently fifth-most populous state (Pennsylvania soon will pass it). Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner will seek re-election with a stark warning: The state is approaching a death spiral — departing people and businesses suppress growth; the legislature responds by raising taxes; the exodus accelerates.
Rauner, whose net worth earned as a private-equity executive is $500 million, give or take, probably will be running against someone six times richer.