RFK’s son to run for Illinois governor: report

Former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s (D-N.Y.) son is campaigning to become Illinois’s governor, according to a new report.

Democratic businessman Chris Kennedy will try unseating Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) in 2018, The Associated Press said Wednesday.

The AP confirmed that Kennedy, whose father also served as attorney general, is launching the gubernatorial bid with campaign adviser Hanah Jubeh.

{mosads}Kennedy, who is also the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, has previously flirted with seeking public office, including a Senate bid. The businessman is the former chairman of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees and now leads Top Box Foods.

Top Box is a nonprofit organization that provides affordable, healthy food to Chicago neighborhoods, the AP said, and occupies Kennedy’s time outside of his work at his family’s investment firm.

He is also chairman of Joseph P. Kennedy Enterprises Inc. and he previously managed a real estate company whose holdings included Chicago’s Merchandise Mart.

The AP notes that Kennedy has significant personal wealth he could use to help fund a campaign against Rauner, who put $50 million of his own money into his reelection fund late last year.

Kennedy first emerged as a gubernatorial challenger after addressing the Illinois delegation of the Democratic National Convention last year.

The businessman attacked Rauner’s business policies and struggles with a state budget stalemate, accusing him of inflicting “suffering and chaos” on constituents.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, who leads Illinois’s Democratic Party, said after the remarks last July that Kennedy would make “an excellent candidate.”

“Mike Madigan endorsing a run for governor by Chris Kennedy tells you everything you need to know about Chris Kennedy,” Illinois Republican Party spokesman Steven Yaffe responded. “Chris Kennedy secretly kissed Mike Madigan’s ring months ago because he knows Madigan is the real boss.”

Kennedy may face a difficult Democratic primary, however, with the AP listing Chicago alderman Ameya Pawar as another candidate.

Billionaire businessman J.B. Pritzker, state Sen. Andy Manar and Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) are all weighing individual campaigns, it added.