Darren Bailey, the downstate Christian conservative farmer and former state lawmaker who was the Republican Party’s unsuccessful 2022 candidate for governor, will seek the nomination next year to once again challenge Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, Bailey’s planned running mate said.
Aaron Del Mar, the Cook County Republican chairman who also had been considering a bid for governor, said Tuesday he had agreed to serve as Bailey’s lieutenant governor candidate. Del Mar said the two will be campaigning more as a “regional partnership,” with Bailey focused south of Interstate 80 and Del Mar concentrating on Chicago and the collar counties.
A formal campaign announcement is expected by the end of the month, Del Mar said.
“I think that we can repackage and rebrand and have a more comprehensive strategy and forecast a better perspective for Illinois than they’re currently getting with the current governor,” said Del Mar, who was the lieutenant governor candidate of businessman Gary Rabine’s unsuccessful 2022 GOP primary campaign.
A 2026 run for governor would be the third consecutive major race for Bailey, a wealthy farmer from Louisville in tiny Coles County. Last year, he narrowly lost his Republican primary challenge against veteran U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of Murphysboro for the GOP nomination in the 12th Congressional District, which encompasses nearly the bottom third of the state.
In 2022, Bailey won the GOP nomination in a six-man race with an assist from Pritzker, who viewed Bailey as the most beatable in the general election. Pritzker funded millions of dollars in ads through the Democratic Governors Association that promoted Bailey in the primary as the most conservative candidate in the race. Pritzker, an entrepreneur and billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, easily defeated Bailey 55% to 42% in winning reelection.
Bailey lost heavily in the Chicago area — particularly among socially moderate suburban women, a key voting constituency. At various times in his losing campaign, Bailey labeled Chicago a “hellhole,” a descriptor President Donald Trump has used in recent weeks as he’s discussed the possibility of sending federal authorities and potentially the National Guard to Chicago over crime.
Running a campaign based on the evangelical, charismatic Christianity that is common in rural southern Illinois, Bailey regularly posted daily devotional readings on Facebook and touted his religious convictions in opposing abortion and LGBTQ rights. He recently referenced how he and his wife, Cindy, had been praying about whether he should launch another campaign for governor.
At the same time, Bailey is an ardent supporter of Trump, though Bost got the president’s backing in the congressional race. At the end of last month, Bailey posted on social media appearances he’s shared with Donald Trump Jr. at two suburban events.
Bailey “totally looked at it from a standpoint of what was good for southern Illinois. And I think that I can bring him a perspective on what’s important in Cook County,” Del Mar said of Bailey’s first gubernatorial bid.
“We had to put our egos aside” to form the ticket, Del Mar said. “And I honestly had to put my ego aside because I was looking at running for governor and trying to do what I think’s best for the party. And I think this is the only real opportunity we have to turn out unreliable voters and to build a base with suburban and urban voters in Chicago and the suburbs.”
Bailey would instantly have more name recognition among Republican primary voters than the rest of the early field. Other contenders include Ted Dabrowski, a former vice president of the right-leaning Illinois Policy Institute and former president of Wirepoints, a conservative advocacy group, and DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick.
Mendrick last week filed a defamation suit in DuPage County Circuit Court against Joseph Severino, a little-known, fringe candidate who is a rival for the nomination.
In the suit, Mendrick alleges Severino “is disseminating through third parties unequivocally false, derogatory and defamatory content” against him. Specifically, Mendrick alleged Severino sought to hire a campaign vendor to produce a “deep fake artificial intelligence video” of Mendrick smoking meth with minors.
The suit seeks an order that Severino publicly retract his statements and seeks in excess of $250,000 in damages.
Severino lost congressional bids in the 10th Congressional District in 2022 as a Republican and in 2024 as an independent, write-in candidate. He received 238 votes.
Severino has used social media to spread conspiracy theories about GOP candidates and party operatives, including calls to “take back our party from criminals, perverts, pedophiles and informants.”
In July, during an appearance before Rock Island County Republicans, Severino said, “I’ve been fighting the fight against the establishment. They’re scared to death of me. The surveillance state that exists in Illinois is right now, it’s predicated upon stymying my voice.”
At the event, he made repeated references to traveling “down here” and made pledges not to forget about “the southern end of the state” and southern Illinois. Rock Island County is 180 miles west of Chicago along Interstate 80 and has never been considered part of southern Illinois.
