Morning Spin: With 2 weeks until Election Day, Pritzker puts another $15 million in his campaign. He’s up to $161.5 million now.

Oct. 22--Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield. Subscribe here.

Topspin

Billionaire Democratic governor candidate J.B. Pritzker continued his record-shattering self-funding pace, putting another $15 million in his campaign and bringing his out-of-pocket total to $161.5 million.

Pritzker reported his latest self-contribution on Saturday. His total is a national record, eclipsing retired business executive Meg Whitman's $144 million self-funding in losing the 2010 California governor's race to Jerry Brown and the $109 million that Michael Bloomberg spent in winning a third term as New York mayor in 2009.

Since forming his political committee in March 2017 through the end of September, Pritzker has spent $135.9 million while Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has spent $71.5 million on his re-election, records show. Rauner, a wealthy equity investor, has given himself $95.3 million for his campaigns for governor starting in March 2013.

Pritzker's campaign also gave Democratic attorney general candidate Kwame Raoul, a state senator from Chicago, $1 million on Friday. Pritzker has given Raoul a total of more than $2.9 million for his race against Republican Erika Harold to replace Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

His campaign also put another $1 million into the Rock Island County Democratic organization. The Rock Island Democrats are headed by Doug House, who also runs the Illinois Democratic County Chairs' Association.

Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, also had his campaign put another $700,000 into the state Democratic Party, which is chaired by Rauner's chief political nemesis, House Speaker Michael Madigan. Pritzker has now put more than $2.1 million into the state party. (Rick Pearson)

What's on tap

*Mayor Emanuel had no public events scheduled.

*Gov. Rauner will visit a business in Wood Dale.

*Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam of Wheaton and Democratic challenger Sean Casten meet for their final televised debate of the campaign, to be broadcast live at 7 p.m. on WTTW.

*City Council hearings on Emanuel's budget proposal start Monday.

From the notebook

*Early voting expands: Voter registration and early voting options expand statewide today. In the city, that means 51 locations across the city through Nov. 5.

Each of the city sites, one in each ward as well as the Loop "Super Site" at 175 W. Washington St., will be open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Beginning Oct. 29, all 51 sites also will have weeknight hours.

A list of early voting sites is here. (Rick Pearson)

*Uihlein gets in AG race: Richard Uihlein, a socially conservative megadonor who has pumped millions of dollars into Illinois candidates, has given Harold $100,000.

The founder of the Uline packing materials business has given more than $17 million to the Liberty Principles political action committee run by Dan Proft, a conservative radio talk show host who lost a bid for the 2010 GOP governor nomination. Proft is backing 19 GOP state legislative candidates.

Uihlein also gave $2.5 million to the Proft-backed candidacy of state Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton in her primary challenge to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, a race she narrowly lost because of conservative anger with Rauner over his signatures on laws expanding abortion, immigration and transgender rights. Uihlein had given Rauner more than $2.6 million in his 2014 run for governor, and his wife, Elizabeth, also gave Harold $5,000 last week.

Raoul, a state senator from Chicago, has used TV ads to attack Harold for holding social conservative viewpoints, which she has sought to defend by saying she would act based on the law. Uihlein's entry into the race as a funder for Harold could help buttress Raoul's criticism. For his part, Raoul reported another $150,000 donation from Michael Sacks, the CEO of GCM Grosvenor asset management firm. Sacks, a major contributor and adviser to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has given Raoul $400,000.

Harold and Raoul are vying for the job being given up by Democratic Attorney General Lisa Madigan. (Rick Pearson)

*Trump back in Illinois soon: President Donald Trump is set to be in southern Illinois days before the Nov. 6 election to help out Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost.

Bost was with Trump during the president's last visit to Illinois, too, as he's locked in a tough re-election against Democrat Brendan Kelly in one of two Downstate congressional races into which both parties are pouring millions of dollars.

Last week, speculation had swirled that Trump would show up in Carbondale in the waning days of the campaign. The president's campaign operation is offering tickets for a rally Oct. 27 in at the Southern Illinois Airport, outside Carbondale and Murphysboro, home to both Bost and the indispensable 17th Street Barbeque.

Read more about the Bost vs. Kelly matchup here.

*The next phase of Quincy veterans home: Rauner was in Quincy on Friday as the former Sycamore nursing home was renamed in honor of Medal of Honor winner Army Cpl. Lester Hammond Jr.

Hammond, who was raised in Quincy, was wounded near Kumwha, North Korea, as his six-man patrol unit was ambushed on Aug. 14, 1952. He separated from his unit and called in an artillery strike on his attackers. He was killed but saved the rest of his unit. His posthumously awarded Medal of Honor is part of the All Wars Museum at the veterans home, and he is buried in the home's cemetery.

The new Hammond Hall is part of the rebuilding of the Quincy Veterans' Home approved by Rauner and lawmakers in the aftermath of annual outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease at the post-Civil War facility that have killed 14 residents and sickened nearly 70 since 2015.

Rauner's administration is the subject of an investigation by Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office over their handling of the outbreaks at the home. The governor has termed the investigation to be politically motivated.

A WBEZ-FM 91.5 investigation found that administration officials waited six days to notify the public about the initial 2015 outbreak, which killed 12 residents and sickened dozens more. Rauner has said no public notification was necessary because Legionnaires' isn't contagious and the administration wanted to avoid panic.

In an interview with WMBD-TV in Peoria, Rauner dismissed as "misinformation" and "false political spin for political gain," reports of a delay in notification.

"It's tragic, but I'll say that our team did as well as they could in very difficult circumstances. Immediately they acted. There was no delay. There was no waiting. Immediately they acted," Rauner said in the interview.

But some family members of Legionnaires' victims have said they were not immediately notified of either the outbreak or of illnesses. A dozen lawsuits have been filed in the state Court of Claims contending negligence. (Rick Pearson)

*Ford sounds ready to run for mayor: Democratic state Rep. La Shawn Ford said he's still considering a bid for Chicago mayor but has his petition signatures in hand.

"It's been an honor to be pushed forward by the elected officials on the West Side. That's how this got started, and people throughout the city on the South and West Side of Chicago have given so much support gathering petitions as a grass-roots movement," Ford said Sunday on WGN-AM 720.

"We are pretty close to make sure that we are solid and ready to put forward a campaign for mayor," Ford said, adding he's been encouraged by U.S. Rep. Danny Davis and other West Side African-American elected officials.

"So you can't ask for better than that when you have your colleagues supporting your possible run for mayor," he said. (Rick Pearson)

*On the "Sunday Spin": Tribune political reporter Rick Pearson's guests are Pat Brady, founder of Next Generation Strategies, on the Rauner campaign strategy; Brad Considine, director of strategic affairs for the Alliance to Prevent Legionnaires' Disease on the Quincy veterans home issue and water safety; and Ford. The "Sunday Spin" airs from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on WGN-AM 720. Listen to the full show here.

What we're writing

*A key issue in Illinois governor race -- Rauner, Pritzker have very different tax plans.

*Watchdog report found no one checked on Toni Preckwinkle when SUV was found after '16 election. She says otherwise.

*Raoul calls lawsuit against Pritzker "shoddily drafted."

*Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton talk democracy, authoritarianism and the power of optimism in Chicago.

*Campaign signs are everywhere. But do they work?

What we're reading

*Graupel fell from the sky in parts of the Chicago area Saturday. So what is graupel?

*"We may both be leaving in body bags": State police report details fatal Delnor Hospital standoff.

*Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin must recuse from Sears matters on pension panel, Democratic senators say.

Follow the money

*Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here.

Beyond Chicago

*Trump administration plan would roll back transgender protections.

*Republicans criticize Trump plan to withdraw from nuclear arms treaty.

*Warren, Sanders could collide en route to 2020.

*The big statehouse races outside Illinois.

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