Prairie State Wire

Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey chastises opponent Gov. J.B. Pritzker over his distribution of marijuana licenses.

The State Senator was asked if he would reverse the decriminalization of cannabis in Illinois. He responded that it's not on his priority list and criticized Pritzker, who was previously asked when he would deliver diversity to the cannabis industry.

"Governor Pritzker for four years, ‘equity, equity, equity,’" Bailey stated. "And he finally had his opportunity with the recreational marijuana dispensaries and he failed again. I’m out in the black community – you probably saw me on Facebook a few weeks ago since you saw everything else – when I was walking with the black community up and down the streets of Chicago and they were screaming foul because they can’t get the licenses."

Since 2020 over 340 licenses have been given and only one was granted to a minority according to the debate moderator and WGN news anchor Tahman Bradley.

“To our governor, to our lawmakers, we are in a state of emergency right now," Douglas Kelly, leader of the Cannabis Equity Illinois Coalition said at a press conference in September, WTTW reported. "Without getting these funds and getting these rules changed, and the legislation changed, all these people behind me who have businesses are going to suffer. To the Black and Latino Caucus, Progressive Caucus, we must come together to win this war.”

Pritzker's Democratic primary opponent, Beverly Miles went largely unnoticed by most voters, but now is for supporting Bailey in the general election campaign. She noted that Bailey is talking to black voters in Cook County, and she believes that he is going to pick up a lot of their votes. Miles articulated that the Black community is not pleased with Pritzker, particularly on the issues of crime, schools, and high taxes. She also had questions about the SAFE-T Act, which will release many violent offenders, which the governor signed into law. She also said that Pritzker gave marijuana licenses to "rich white people", cutting out much of the black community. Many in the black community are angry at Pritzker about this. 

"From where I sit, when J.B. Pritzker ran the first time, the promises he made to the state of Illinois and especially marginalized communities, he lied," Miles said. "The bottom line, he lied. He didn't keep his promises." 

Charles Thomas, a former ABC 7 political reporter joined the Brunch Bunch on AM 1390 and discussed Illinois politics. He mentioned in the program that he is supporting Bailey for Governor even though he has never pulled a Republican ballot in his life. Thomas said that Illinois has the most black elected officials of any state in the country and problems like crime and lack of economic opportunity still pervade the black community. He noted that he is undertaking an effort to separate black people from their blind allegiance to the Democratic Party. He emphasized that the Democratic Party has given black people nothing for their votes, and he used the example of Pritzker promising equity for marijuana licenses and breaking that promise. Thomas posed the question of why would Illinoisans keep voting for someone like this. 

Thomas shared his experience when he met Bailey and said they connected over both being Christian. He said that he trusts Bailey because Bailey's beliefs are closer to his than Pritzker's. Thomas explained that he is taking a chance on Bailey because he believes "Darren Bailey is a good person who is going to make the right decisions." He also commented that black politicians, not just Pritzker, disrespect the black community and that they need to be held accountable. Thomas then noted that Pritzker also cut the black community out of the gaming business and criticized him for his economic development plan of weed and gambling. Black people, according to Thomas, need to listen to the specific issues that politicians are supporting and vote based on those. He implored listeners to do so and said that black people need to end their blind support of the Democratic party because they have received nothing in return.

Another concerned Illinoisan, Brian Mullins, who is part of a group that is starting the Black Voter Project spoke about the organization. The group argues that independence around issues is needed in the black community because it tends to vote only Democrat. 

"The goal is to organize the black voter block in the state of Illinois," Mullins told South Cook News. "So it's a specific media-targeted door-to-door survey and data-driven effort to engage the black electorate in issues relating to the black community. Not Democratic, not Republican, not Independent, specifically not libertarian, but start with the issues so that we can then push people to the right candidate, not a party." 

Mullins said that they decided to undertake this project after witnessing all-around destruction in communities, most of it caused by specific policies. He added that most conversations in the black community happen between the black elite and the Democrats, which leaves out 90% of the community. Mullins also noted that the black vote controls who is elected in Illinois, and he hopes his project will inform black voters on the best candidate on the issues they care about.