Prairie State Wire

Illinois gubernatorial candidate state Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) will make a campaign stop Friday in Pittsfield.

The meet and greet will be at the Cardinal Inn from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., the campaign posted on Facebook.

Earlier in the week, he was in Mount Sterling.

"It was great meeting with so many great people in Mount Sterling tonight at our Brown County meet and greet," the candidate posted. "Thank you to everyone who helped organize and showed up to support our movement."

Late last year, Bailey named his running mate, former talk show host Stephanie Trussell, during a bus tour across Illinois, The Chicago Tribune reported. He was the first of the four Republican gubernatorial candidates to announce a running mate, the story said.

 Trussell, originally from Chicago’s West Side and now living in Lisle, worked as a  talk-show host  for WLS AM-890 for seven years after winning a station  talent contest, the story said.

Under Illinois law, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run as a team. 

Late last year, Bailey criticized incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker over COVID-19 school mandates on vaccination, testing and masks.

“It’s not about a vaccine, it’s about freedom,” Bailey  tweeted. “The mandate candidate is acting like a tyrant & overstepping his power. These decisions should be between you & your doctor, and the government is not your doctor. Keep standing for freedom.”