CHICAGO (AP) — The nonprofit organization run by the Democratic wife of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has sued the first-term Republican amid the state’s unprecedented budget impasse.
The awkward situation has raised eyebrows and drawn a few jabs about Diana Rauner’s twin roles as first lady to the state’s first GOP governor in over a decade and as a longtime social services advocate in the Democratic state.
Diana Rauner has been president of the Chicago-based Ounce of Prevention Fund since 2011. The group offers early childhood programs and is partially state-funded.
Her organization recently joined a lawsuit against Gov. Rauner and state agencies brought by social agencies working without payment for nearly a year because of the budget gridlock.
A hearing in the court case is scheduled for July 2016.