Republicans' campaign accounts could get bi-annual infusions of cash from Gov. Rauner. The former private equity investor's personal wealth hasn't just fueled his own political ambitions; he's given heartily to the state Republican Party and to GOP legislators.

In what appears to be a fundamentally new strategy in the use of campaign cash in Illinois, the state’s new Republican governor in May doled out $400,000 in a single day from his main campaign committee, giving to all 67 Republicans in both chambers of the legislature.