CHICAGO (AP) – As one of the nation’s most competitive governor’s races picks up, voters in Illinois are hearing a whole lot about a British territory thousands of miles away in the Caribbean.
Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn hammered his wealthy Republican rival for days after reports that Bruce Rauner put some investments in the Cayman Islands, a place often criticized as a tax haven and that has caused political problems for U.S. candidates, including 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
Rauner’s campaign fired back, saying Quinn’s own pension fund – and that of many Illinois teachers and other public employees – are tied to investments there.
The fallout has included accusations that candidates are unpatriotic and waging a “war on teachers,” recruiting an economist to discuss the ills of offshore accounts and a news conference on a sweltering Chicago beach intended to conjure up images of the Caribbean paradise.
Here’s a breakdown of the situation and what it could mean come November: