Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan appeared Sunday at a Chicago-area fundraiser and raked in $2.5 million toward his and Mitt Romney's bid to unseat President Obama.
The Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet reports that, ahead of his Thursday debate against Vice President Joe Biden, Ryan told the audience at a reception at Rosemont's Hyatt Regency O’Hare that Obama "came in with all these grand promises, all this hope and this change, and didn’t fulfill any of those promises."
Tickets to the reception ranged in price from $2,500 to $75,800. About 250 people attended the reception, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Meanwhile, outside the event, state Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) led a protest against Ryan's budget. Fox Chicago reports that one protester took part in the demonstration while wearing a Big Bird outfit.
Schakowsky told Fox that Ryan and Romney's economic plan "means disaster for the middle class."
Illinois has been lucrative ground for the Romney-Ryan ticket. According to the Sun-Times, a fundraiser Romney headlined in Lake Forest last month netted $4.4 million in the "largest single Republican fundraiser in Illinois history," according to Republican State Treasurer Dan Rutherford.
Muneer Satter, the Romney-Ryan campaign’s state finance chairman, told the Daily Herald that their campaign has raised more money in the Prairie State than any previous GOP presidential ticket.
Meanwhile, voter registration in Chicago and Cook County has continued to struggle to match 2008 numbers. The Tribune reported Monday that registered voters are slightly on the rise in most of the suburban collar counties.
The deadline for Chicago residents to update their registration or register for the first time to vote in the Nov. 6 general election is Tuesday, Oct. 9. Click here to check your voter status and -- if you are currently registered -- find your polling place. Cook County voters outside Chicago can register to vote here.