J.B. Pritzker (D)

At $9.3 million in expenditures, J.B. Pritzker accounted for 67% of total 2nd quarter spending in the Illinois gubernatorial race. Advertising and media consulting represented a large portion of his committee's expenditures. Pritzker utilized a Philadelphia media consulting group named Shorr, Johnson, Magnus, who has worked in the past with U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Al Franken. Pritzker paid the group $6,317,365 for media buys, consulting, and production. That amount itself is more than the combined total spending of all the other gubernatorial campaigns. In total, Pritzker spent an additional $928,160 on media buys from other sources, media and digital consulting, and media production. Pritzker also spent a significant amount of money building his campaign's team. He spent $ 668,286 on payroll and associated fees for campaign staff - almost $500,000 more than any other candidate.