Prairie State Wire

As GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey celebrated victory in Tuesday's primary elections, he called out Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s failures in the state.

A state senator and farmer from Xenia who runs Bailey Family Farm, Bailey’s victory was a resounding one, The New York Times reported. He notched 57.5% of the vote. His nearest competitor, Menard County investor Jesse Sullivan came in second with 15.7% of the vote. Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, whose campaign was backed by $50 million provided by billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, only garnered 15% of the vote.

Bailey said Pritzker – a trust fund billionaire – is out of touch with the average Illinoisan.

“Billionaires like Pritzker can't relate to the struggles of working people and taxpayers like us. It's that simple,” Bailey said in his primary victory speech. “You and I have to balance our family budgets. Billionaire Pritzker has never had to, and he's lying to us about the state's budget.”

Bailey said the state's five pension funds have been $4 billion short of what they should be.

“Pritzker doesn't understand how skyrocketing gas prices and soaring food prices make everyday life harder for Illinois families like you and I. He doesn't understand how his and Joe Biden's extreme national agenda helps fuel inflation and increases utility bills for families like us across Illinois,” he said. “He doesn't understand the damage that his lockdowns did to small businesses, schools, mental health and working families all across this state. He doesn't understand that his war on police has fueled the war on our streets, making our neighborhoods dangerous all across this state so dangerous that many parents are afraid to let their kids walk home from school. Friends, we've witnessed that in Chicago.”

Bailey said help is coming.

“It's coming, friend. It's coming. Help is on the way,” he said.

Pritzker’s 2021 budget – which critics say was unbalanced despite appearances otherwise – was excoriated by Wirepoints’ Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner.

“Pritzker is making the same mistake he did last year. He’s failing to tackle Illinois’ deep problems,” Dabrowksi and Klingner wrote. “This is not a budget for a state that’s just one notch from a junk credit rating. It’s not a budget that deals with the nation’s worst pension crisis, the second-highest property taxes, the second-worst rate of out-migration and falling real home values.”

The state's rise in gas taxes was driven by Pritzker, Wirepoints reported.

Because of the numerous levies that various governments pile on, Illinois residents pay the second-highest gas taxes in the country.

In Naperville, drivers pay a total of around 25% in taxes, including federal, two types of state, a DuPage County tax and local city tax.

Illinois took drastic steps via COVID-19 protocols over a two-year period under Pritzker, making the state one of the worst-affected economically. Numerous small businesses were unable to survive the lockdown situation and were unable to reopen, according to Politico.

Property tax rates, which in some parts of the state are comparable to mortgage payments, need to be capped, according to Bailey, Illinois Policy reported.

Since 1990, the amount of property taxes in Illinois has increased by 76%, more than double the growth in median household income. After New Jersey, the state has the highest property tax rate in the country.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, the murder rate has grown by 55% since the pandemic started in March 2020, according to Bailey's remarks on the city's crime. Almost 800 murders occurred in the city in 2021, which is a record high since 1996. There were more shooting events at the same time, Chicago City Wire reported.

Many people believe that Chicago's crime problems are caused by the city's failure to lock up criminals.

Chicago businesses have suffered from widespread theft since Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx opted to exclusively prosecute shoplifting crimes that cost more than $1,000 in 2016, according to Chicago City Wire. Shoplifting has become a serious problem as a result of that decision, forcing several businesses to permanently close.

Local business owners are worried that permitting crime to be out of control and not holding criminals accountable for their actions may encourage more heinous crimes like murder.

Bailey was born and raised in Louisville, Illinois and is a third-generation farmer, his website reported. He grew up on the Bailey Family Farm, which he and his sons currently own and operate and where they cultivate maize, wheat and soybeans.