Darren Bailey wins Illinois Republican primary for rematch against Gov. JB Pritzker Darren Bailey, a hardline conservative farmer from southern Illinois, secured the Republican nomination for governor in a primary race that set up a rematch against Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker. The Associated Press called the race for Bailey shortly after polls closed, with him holding 48% of the vote based on 34% of counted ballots. His closest competitor, state Rep. Dan Dabrowski, received 32.5%, followed by state Sen. Mike Mendrick (9.8%) and state Rep. Chris Heidner (9.1%). Pritzker, the incumbent governor, faced no primary opposition in his bid for a third term. Bailey’s victory marks his second consecutive win in the GOP primary, positioning him for a November general election showdown with Pritzker. The race has taken on a personal dimension for Bailey, who has been shaped by recent tragedy. Last fall, he lost his son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren in a helicopter crash, an event he described as a call to action. “There was just this welling up in our heart that set in, and I knew that we were being called to do this,” Bailey told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I’m fighting for my children and my grandchildren and a better future for everyone in Illinois.” Bailey’s campaign has emphasized economic issues over the social policies that dominated his 2022 race. While he opposes abortion in nearly all cases, he acknowledges the difficulty of overturning Illinois’ state-level abortion protections. Instead, he has focused on lowering taxes, cutting state spending, and proposing a Springfield spending audit modeled after Elon Musk’s cost-cutting efforts at DOGE. His rhetoric has also shifted from branding Chicago a “hellhole” to advocating for “working families first.#illinois #elton_musk #darren_bailey #jb_pritzker #chicago_sun_times
