Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) | Bailey's website
Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) | Bailey's website
Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) is running for governor of Illinois with a focus on crime, coronavirus policies and education.
“My first call is going to be to [State School Superintendent Carmen Ayala] and I’m going to tell her ‘you’re fired,’” Bailey said at the Central Illinois Gubernatorial Candidates Forum on April 25. The forum was hosted by the Tazewell County Republicans and the Peoria County and Woodford County GOP.
Bailey has routinely called himself the only true conservative currently running for the Republican nomination.
A report on the event from The Center Square said gubernatorial candidates Gary Rabine, Jesse Sullivan, former Sen. Paul Schimpf and Max Solomon spoke at the event.
The primary election for the Illinois gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election is on June 28.
“I’ve been standing up and pushing back and trying to educate parents from day one to take back your schools,” Bailey said toward the end of his opening statement. “When we allow the government to get out of control, we lose our freedoms. We have a God-given gift here with the greatest nation on the face of this earth.”
Bailey also gave his opinion on government action during the pandemic.
Bailey said that government shouldn’t be involved when it comes to pandemics. “We the people decide how we’re going to live our lives, we decide how we’re going to run our business, when we need to close our business and if we need to close our schools,” he said. “Government has no business in that.”
More recently, Bailey appeared at a news conference in Chicago alongside local anti-abortion activists regarding the leaked draft ruling from the United States Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade. “I absolutely love this — hope for Chicago, hope for Illinois and hope for this great nation,” Bailey said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Pollster Ogden & Fry reported Bailey garnered the most votes when randomly-selected research participants were asked who’d they’d vote for during a Republican primary for governor in 2021.
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