Darren Bailey Targets Pritzker on Costs and Safety at Springfield Illinois State Fair Rally

Republicans frame Illinois governor’s race around affordability, crime and education

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois — Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey used Thursday’s Republican Day gathering at the Illinois State Fair to press his case against Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, focusing his campaign message on the cost of living, public safety and schools ahead of their November rematch.

Bailey, a southern Illinois farmer who lost to Pritzker by a wide margin four years ago, told supporters at the Springfield fairgrounds that voters were feeling the consequences of the governor’s policies in their day-to-day lives. He argued that Illinois residents were more concerned with economic pressures and local conditions than with the political attacks exchanged between the parties.

“They realize the damage that JB Pritzker is doing to the state,” Bailey said. “They realize it because they’re living it and they’re feeling it.”

The event underscored the challenge facing Illinois Republicans, who have not elected a candidate to statewide office since 2014. Party speakers sought to unite a ticket that combines Bailey’s downstate base with lieutenant governor candidate Aaron Del Mar, the Cook County Republican Party chair.

Del Mar said he had set aside past differences with Bailey and urged voters to assess their financial circumstances under Pritzker’s administration. In a forceful address, he said Illinoisans were tired of higher taxes and political infighting, asking the crowd whether they were better off than they had been seven-and-a-half years earlier.

Bailey also aimed a direct appeal at suburban and Chicago-area voters, where Republican candidates have struggled in recent statewide elections. He said residents in the region faced high living costs, concerns about safety and failing schools, though he did not provide specific data to support those assertions.

Trump largely absent from Republican Day speeches

Unlike Democrats at the fairground rally a day earlier, Bailey and other Republican speakers largely avoided discussing President Donald Trump. Bailey, a longtime Trump supporter, was asked by reporters about the president’s role in the Illinois race as Pritzker’s campaign began airing advertisements criticizing Bailey’s “extreme MAGA views.”

Bailey responded that the president was not responsible for Illinois’ problems and said the state needed new leadership. His remarks reflected a campaign effort to keep attention on state issues in suburban areas, including DuPage County, where Trump’s standing has weighed on Republican candidates in recent election cycles.

Pritzker’s campaign also staged a visual protest at the fair, sending staff members in dinosaur costumes carrying signs reading “Dinosaurs against Darren Bailey.” The stunt referenced curriculum at a school founded by Bailey that teaches humans and dinosaurs coexisted. Asked whether he agreed with the scientific consensus that dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years before humans emerged, Bailey deflected the question and again redirected attention to affordability, public safety and education.

Other Republican candidates broadened the attacks on Democrats. U.S. Senate candidate Don Tracy criticized Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Democratic Socialist political figures while arguing for legal immigration and law-and-order policies. Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, criticized House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch over his handling of sexual-harassment allegations involving former state Rep. Harry Benton, D-Plainfield.

Illinois GOP Chair Bob Grogan said the party was seeking to expand its message beyond criticism of former House Speaker Michael Madigan, who was federally convicted. For now, Bailey’s campaign and the broader Republican ticket are making Pritzker’s record on household costs, crime and schools the centerpiece of their push toward November.