SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Illinois’ Republican gubernatorial primary is just a few weeks away, and the state’s largest teachers union is ponying up some last-minute financial help to get its preferred GOP candidate across the finish line.

The Illinois Education Association has given $50,000 to the campaign of state Sen. Kirk Dillard. The money comes after the Republican officially received the union’s endorsement earlier this month.

“It’s a much-needed boost to Dillard’s campaign fund with just three weeks left before the March 18th primary,” the Chicago Sun-Times reports. “Still, it’s so far short of the $250,000 the group gave Dillard in 2010.”

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The money should help Dillard air some TV spots and radio ads during the campaign’s homestretch, the Sun-Times notes.

However, the union’s payout could boomerang on Dillard, and play into the campaign of his main rival, Bruce Rauner.

Rauner, a billionaire and reported GOP frontrunner, has centered much of his campaign on the “government union bosses” who, he says, are “bankrupting” the state government.

“Rauner, Dillard, Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford of Chenoa and state Sen. Bill Brady … are sprinting toward the March 18 primary and are set to meet Thursday at a debate that will be broadcast on ABC 7,” DailyHerald.com reports.