Prairie State Wire

Republican gubernatorial candidate Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) has chastised Gov. J.B. Pritzker over the condition of Chicago.

In an op-ed for the Chicago City Wire, Bailey noted that, "So many good people in this city are sad to see what's happening here. People are always talking about leaving. And when each good person leaves Chicagoland, it tears a little hole in the fabric of our community." Dubbing Chicago as Pritzkerville in its current situation, he is hopeful and has urged Illinoisans that change can be made if he gets elected on Nov. 8.

"‘Pritzkerville’ is the version of Chicago we see today," Bailey stated. "It's a place where politicians have gone soft on crime and hard on the police, where leading businesses like Caterpillar and Boeing leave and are replaced by a massive new casino and dispensaries. ‘Pritzkerville’ is a version of Chicago where hard-working people find life more challenging, where taxes are too high and keep going higher. Where food and gas costs are high and even higher than in neighboring states because merchants are subject to harassing rules, taxes, and increasing theft. ‘Pritzkerville’ is a version of Chicago where the Mayor bullies and berates, and swears more than any trucker I have ever known, and it's where the current Governor, JB Pritzker, has made his home. It's the kind of place where a billionaire can rip toilets out of his mansion to dodge paying the high taxes he and his friends impose on others and still escape prosecution when his cheating becomes public. Pritzker has his security, but he smirks about your lack of safety — he has his, so you're on your own sucker. His ethic of high taxes, dishonesty, and disregard for making government work for you instead of sticking it to you is the ethic that is tearing Chicago down.”

A new Osage Research poll conducted from Oct. 13-15 of 600 of likely voters found Pritzker at 44% and Bailey at 42%. With a margin of error of 4 percent, this means that the two are statistically tied. The poll also found that 47% of respondents viewed Pritzker negatively. 

Bailey said in a statement, "Friends, your support, prayers, and hard work are what make this possible. In the final weeks, our movement is surging and I promise you we will continue working day in and day out to reach voters across Illinois who are desperate for a new hope in our state." Bailey has visited all 102 counties in the state after prevailing in a hard-fought primary in which one challenger had the backing of a prominent billionaire in Richard Irvin. 

Bailey also said, "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."

According to a Cook County Inspector General report, Pritzker engaged in a "scheme to defraud" by removing all the toilets from his Gold Coast mansion to receive more than $330,000 in property tax breaks due to the house being an "uninhabitable structure." The report says that the assessor's office received sworn affidavits that were false, saying, "evidence indicates that the use of these affidavits was part of a scheme for obtaining money by means of false representations." The report also noted that the false affidavits gave Pritzker tax refunds amounting to $132,747.18 for the years 2012, 2013, and 2014 and $198,684.85 for the years 2015 and 2016. The report also highlights a 2015 email that Pritzker's wife sent to a plumbing company instructing a plumber to "pull all toilets and cap all toilet lines in the house." Pritzker ended up paying the $330,000 to the county, but critics said that it was an admission of guilt, NBC Chicago reported.

Attorney General candidate Tom DeVore is bringing attention to fraud involving the Governor’s office. Jenny Thornley, a former Pritzker campaign aide and Illinois State Police (ISP) Merit Board employee was accused of stealing money from the state. Her boss caught wind, and she threatened him, but an investigation was opened anyway. Thornley then reached out to the governor and his wife to help her in February 2020. Then, working with Pritzker’s top-level staff, Thornley then filed a false workers’ comp claim listing Pritzker’s office as her employer, not the ISP Merit Board. The Merit Board tried to object to the claim, but they were barred from the process by Pritzker’s General Counsel Ann Spillane. Spillane directly handled and approved the fraudulent claim, knowing that Thornley did not work in the Governor's office. An independent investigation concluded that the claim was just a scheme to defraud the State. DeVore said Attorney General Kwame Raoul had information regarding the matter but refused to act. DeVore says that if he is elected, he will fight corruption such as this.