A Congressional candidate in Chicago’s far west suburbs has put more of his own money into his campaign than any other House candidate in the country. Republican businessman Jim Oberweis has funneled $1.6 million into his campaign, mostly for advertising.

Matt Streb teaches political science at Northern Illinois University. He says the amount of money being spent in the race is a sign of how competitive the campaign is.

STREB: Whenever somebody like an Oberweis, who has this kind of money, gets into the race, you can be guaranteed, he becomes a legitimate candidate simply based on his wealth alone.

Oberweis’s primary opponent, State Senator Chris Lauzen, recently gave his campaign more than $300,000. Meantime, on the Democratic side, former Fermilab scientist, Bill Foster, has loaned his campaign $800,000. No other Congressional candidates in the country come close to what 14th District candidates combined have contributed to their campaigns.