Prairie State Wire

Gubernatorial candidate Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) is on a bus tour of the state’s 102 counties. The tour is set to end on June 25, three days before the June 28 primary.

The bus tour has stopped in Jersey, Calhoun, Pike, Scott, Morgan, Cass, Menard, Mason, and Fulton Counties.

“We are going to send a message to the Republican establishment that we will not be bullied into sacrificing our principles to elect their hand-picked candidates,” Bailey said. “People say JB Pritzker wants me to win this primary because he thinks having me as an opponent means he will have an easier time winning. My message to JB Pritzker is BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR…. BECAUSE YOU JUST MIGHT GET IT!”

He urged Illinoisans to vote for who they think will be providing a greater benefit for them, their families, and especially the working class.

“There is just one problem. The decision of who will be our next governor is not up to elitist billionaires like him who despise working people like us. It is up to you – the people. And that thought ought to keep JB Pritzker up at night.”

The Democratic Governors Association — which has been peppering the GOP field with ads — once dismissed Bailey and other GOP gubernatorial candidates for “running on radical anti-choice stances that are completely out of touch with Illinois values. This primary is only going to get nastier as the crowded field tries to out-Trump each other with anti-science, anti-safety, anti-choice policies. Meanwhile, Gov. JB Pritzker has signed sweeping legislation protecting abortion as a fundamental right.” However, Bailey has said Pritzker is the real radical in the race.

“Pritzker signed legislation into law taking away the right of conscience for workers in Illinois to be able to make their own healthcare decisions. JB also signed legislation allowing minors to get abortions without parental notification. Your 12-year-old daughter can’t go on a school field trip without your permission, but she can get an abortion without you knowing about it? Governor Pritzker is an extreme leftist who hates parents, and his policies are a complete joke…The question voters should ask is, what have JB Pritzker’s woke policies done for Illinois?”

The DGA has targeted Bailey as Pritzker’s ideal opponent, noting his conservatism. Others in the race, like Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, have ties to liberal politics. “One hundred % pro-life, Bailey wants to ban abortions and make it illegal here in Illinois. An NRA member, Bailey opposes sensible gun control and says he’ll protect the Second Amendment at all cost,” the DGA noted in an ad, according to the Chicago Tribune. 

As the gubernatorial primary season draws to a close, Bailey has seized a sizable lead in a poll by Chicago Sun-Times/WBEZ. In a survey of 677 likely Republican voters, 32% said they would vote for Bailey, compared to 17% for Irvin. The only other candidate to receive double-digit support was Jesse Sullivan, who received 11%. Businessman Gary Rabine scored 6%, followed by former state senator Paul Schimpf with 4% and Max Solomon with 2%. WGLT reported.

Bailey, a third-generation farmer, was born and raised in Louisville. He grew up on the Bailey Family Farm. Today, he and his sons cultivate maize, wheat, and soybeans on the same farm that they now all own and operate.