Rutherford winds down gov campaign with a whisper

Dan Rutherford’s campaign for governor wound down with a whisper this weekend.

As his Republican competitors ramped up their get-out-the-vote efforts in hopes of getting free media bumps in advance of Tuesday’s primary, Rutherford’s campaign went dark.

“Rutherford is not sharing his weekend schedule with the media,” his spokesman, Brian Sterling said.

By contrast, state Sen. Kirk Dillard and venture capitalist Bruce Rauner each took part in fly-arounds in the state. State Sen. Bill Brady walked in the South Side St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Earlier in the race, Rutherford was seen as being the biggest threat to front-runner Bruce Rauner. That drastically changed after a former Illinois Treasurer employee filed a federal lawsuit claiming sexual harassment. Rutherford accused Rauner’s campaign of orchestrating the allegations, something it vehemently denied.

The next move was probably the most fatal for the Treasurer. With much fanfare, he ordered an internal inquiry into the ex-employees allegations. When the inquiry was through, however, he wouldn’t release it. Rutherford appeared to grow emotional on Thursday, when he was asked at a WTTW televised debate about the biggest regret of his campaign.

“How much time do you have?” Rutherford answered. “I think it was probably bringing people in to places of trust and confidence and finding that I did not make a good selection.”

Rutherford had been active on Twitter and other social media before his political troubles. This is his most recent Tweet, which came in on Saturday.