Rauner's wife made her first television ad appearance on Friday to "soften up" her husband's image. A campaign source called Diane Rauner "The Secret Weapon".
"We disagree on everything, like politics, what to eat and that shirt. What? It's old and ugly,'' Diana Rauner said in a TV advertisement.
Diana, a Democrat, is well known in philanthropic circles as the president of Chicago's Ounce of Prevention charity that helps children dealing with poverty.
She has been married to the wealthy businessman for 20 years and according to her bio on the Ounce website, earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University, an MBA from Stanford and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Chicago.
In response to the ad, Governor's Quinn's campaign spokeswoman Izabela Miltko wrote, ''If Bruce Rauner thinks someone with nine mansions is cheap he is vastly underestimating the intelligence of the people of Illinois.''
The Quinn campaign then e-mailed a photo of Rauner alongside a cheap watch - like the watch Rauner wore during the primary campaign - purportedly showing the number of days that the Republican candidate has refused to provide details of his budget plan.
''I'm voting for him anyway because I know Bruce will take on both parties to fix Illinois. And drive the career politician's nuts,'' Rauner said in the TV ad.
The ad is Rauner's first English-speaking television ad for the general election campaign. There has been an ad since the primary on Spanish language stations.
Rauner spent millions, most of which was his own money, on television to win the primary election.
