Quinn, Rauner in tight race for Illinois governor

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Less than a month until the November 4 election, polls show a tight race for Illinois governor between the incumbent Democrat Pat Quinn and his Republican rival Bruce Rauner.

Through television commercials and rhetoric on the campaign trail, both candidates are well aware of how tight the race has become. Sunday, Governor Quinn continued his push for raising the minimum wage, while Rauner gave a pep talk to his base at the Cook County Republican Convention.

"We've got four weeks to go, this is going to be bloody and nasty," Rauner said.

Acknowledging how tight and ugly the governor's race has become, Rauner continued the negative tone of the campaign as he attacked Quinn before a Cook County Republican event.

"He is the worst governor in America, he has failed the people of Illinois, we are going to hit him hard," said Rauner.

While Rauner spent some time with his political base, Quinn did the same. He attended a church service in Pilsen with Martin Sheen. The actor helped Quinn with one of his ongoing campaign themes, pushing raising the minimum wage from $8.25 to $10 an hour.

"An economy must be an economy of inclusion not exclusion that means those who work and work hard 40 hours a week should not have to live in poverty," Quinn said.

Quinn did not take reporters' questions and refrained this time from blasting his opponent. In the past, Quinn has often reminded voters that Rauner once favored eliminating the minimum wage. Sunday, Rauner says he supports raising it as long as it is done with a pro-growth pro-business approach.

"We need to reduce the tax burden on our small business owners, we need to reform workers' comp and the litigation and lawsuit system. If we do that, along with raising the minimum wage, we can be pro-growth," Rauner said.

Under a referendum, raising the minimum wage is a ballot question for voters. Rauner says Quinn is playing political football with the issue. Rauner believes the governor and Springfield Democrats could have passed it, but they chose not to in order to use minimum wage as a campaign issue.