In a July 18 Facebook post, gubernatorial candidate Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) urged others to get involved during this election cycle. Bailey had won 57.7% of the vote in the Republican primary in June.
"We must all get involved and make a difference this election cycle," Bailey said in a Facebook post. "JB Pritzker has failed to keep our streets safe and our economy growing. Our home is in trouble and it’s up to us to save it. We must reform Springfield and restore Illinois."
Bailey also specifically addressed crime and disorder during a recent press conference.
“The suffering, the loss, and the pain (are) nightmarish and ongoing, and it doesn’t have to be this way,” he said in a July 7 press conference, according to CIProud.com. “I am calling for a special legislative session to take action to stop the mayhem in our streets.”
In a longer form radio interview, Bailey also addressed the influence of lobbyists.
"If lobbying organizations can get you to do what they want instead of what the people want ... they give you money," Bailey said. "So then, politicians are able to build up a war chest. For someone new that wants to get involved in government, when they see that money and they [know they’re] going to have to put the work in to build their account up, they realize it or (they think) 'I just don't know if it's worth this to my family.'"
Bailey discussed the origins of this country's democracy and encouraged people to get involved.
"The beautiful thing of this is when I consider back 250 years ago when this country was established I saw families, farmers, business people – people who wanted freedom – they put everything on the line," Bailey said. "They put their lives, their homes, they put their businesses, their families, they put them on the line at the time to stand up against the greatest army on the face of the earth and that's why we are here, that's who we are as a people. This fall coming up people are going to have the opportunity to pull up, petition to run for school board and run for local units of government inside the village halls and the communities, and I encourage people to get involved and serve."
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