Republican candidate for governor Bruce Rauner has been able to self-fund much of his campaign. That's thanks to the fortune he made as a partner in a private equity firm. But some of his investments continue to haunt him politically.
Lawsuits attribute deaths at nursing homes to Rauner's former investment company, GTCR.
They allege that cost-cutting at one of the company's subsidiaries led to patient neglect.
The legal action isn't over, and could dog Rauner throughout his campaign. A federal bankruptcy judge in Florida is letting a case go forward that basically accuses GTCR of trying to dodge legal liability.
The campaign of his opponent, Gov. Pat Quinn, says it's another example of Rauner putting profits, before people.
Rauner says as far as he knows, there was no wrongdoing.
"The reality is, what happened in those nursing homes ... there ... sounds like some very sad events," he said. "I hope that if there's any wrongdoing that it gets punished. I'm very comfortable letting it play out in the court."
Though the ruling has just been publicized in Illinois, it was made in March, just before Rauner won the GOP nomination, leading Rauner to say Quinn - is just throwing "dust in the air." He says the governor is trying to distract from an investigation into a troubled state anti-violence program.
