Campaign between wealthy Rauner, Pritzker for Illinois governor expected to be expensive, brutal and long

CHICAGO - Democratic billionaire J.B. Pritzker will take on wealthy Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in November, a race expected to easily shatter Illinois campaign spending records and make a run at the national mark.

Both candidates enter a nearly eight-month general election campaign needing to unify their respective parties following bruising primary campaigns. More than half of Democratic voters preferred one of the other five candidates to Pritzker, while Rauner narrowly beat back a strong challenge from conservative state Rep. Jeanne Ives.

Rauner and Pritzker also will compete for independent voters, with the suburbs once again expected to be a battleground as they were in 2014. Back then, Rauner narrowly defeated Democrat Pat Quinn.

To a large extent, Rauner's task is