CHICAGO - It's said you can tell a lot about a leader by the people he hires. In the case of GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner, that may be easier said than done.
The Republican candidate's latest election filings are more than a little opaque when it comes to disclosing staff numbers and pay because the campaign has taken the unusual and ambiguous step of using a third-party firm - Paylocity - to process its payroll.
In the last quarter of 2013, Rauner's campaign wrote checks for over $184,000 to Paylocity (see below), effectively hiding the names and remuneration of his staff and consultants.
The only hint of staff expenses in the most recent Rauner filings are in the form of travel reimbursements to campaign director Chip Englander and staffer Kelley Folino. The report also shows $10,000 paid to Blue Cross Blue Shield for campaign staff health insurance.
The Illinois State Board of Elections told Illinois Review they'd not been asked about this before, and thought it may warrant further investigation. The practice is illegal on the federal level according to FEC rules.
Rauner had no comment when queried about the practice. However, Dillard campaign manager Glenn Hodas told IR, "This is just another case where Rauner needs to come clean with GOP voters. You can’t bend the rules just because you don’t like them. The question is ... what is Bruce trying to hide?"
Brady, Rutherford, and Dillard seem to be following the more common practice of disclosing specific staff and consultant pay in their campaign filings.
