Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker, Republican Darren Bailey to battle for Illinois governor

Conservative Illinois Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, will be the Republican nominee for governor in November.

He will face incumbent Gov. JB Pritzker who won the Democratic primary.

Pritzker had about 92% of the estimated 74% of the statewide vote counted. His sole opponent, Beverly Miles had 8% of the vote.

"The MAGA Republicans want to take us backwards," said Pritzker in a Tuesday night speech in which he touted the state's improved credit ratings, legalized marijuana and abortion protections among other policies he helped pass while in office.

"So long as I'm your governor, Illinois will be a bulwark of progress and equity."

It was a heated Republican primary with two frontrunners for the majority of the race: Bailey and Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin.

Entrepreneur Jesse Sullivan, businessman Gary Rabine, attorney and pastor Max Solomon and former state Sen. Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo, also ran.

With 79% of the estimated votes counted, Bailey led the race with 57.4% of the vote. Sullivan had 15.7% of the vote, with Irvin in third at 15% of the vote.

In his acceptance speech, Bailey pledged to fight for several mainstay conservative ideals: lower taxes, fewer regulations and support for law enforcement.

"We're here because we all know that Illinois is in trouble," said Bailey.

He said he would institute a "zero-based" budgeting strategy for the state. Bailey accused Pritzker of poor financial management of the state.

"Now is the time to unite and move forward," said Bailey. "We will get Illinois back on track."

Irvin, who led in an Emerson College poll conducted in May, conceded on Tuesday night.

"There are those who have an interest and who benefit from chaos, who would have us believe there is an enemy among us," said Irvin in his concession speech. "There is no actual us versus them, there is only America. When we realize that, we will realize we are stronger together than we are apart."

Sullivan also conceded Tuesday night.

"We've defined success differently during this campaign," said Sullivan. "It was never about worldly success, for us this was always about being faithful to the calling that God gave us."

Sullivan encouraged his supporters to help Bailey win in the general election.

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Bailey and Irvin represented competing visions for the Illinois GOP. Irvin, the mayor of the state's second largest city came into the election with the support of many members of the state party's leadership and $50 million of financial backing from conservative megadonor Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder and CEO of Citadel.

Bailey, however came into election day with the endorsement of former President Donald Trump and a network of conservative downstate lawmakers such as Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Dieterich, and Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City.

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Voters turn out

Local election officials noticed a continuation of the shift in recent years toward early and by-mail voting, something that began before the pandemic but was jumpstarted by its effects.

"You can tell the party faithful in Sangamon County engaged the early vote services," Sangamon County Clerk Don Gray said. "That's what you want to see. You want to see everyone utilizing it across the board, and that's happening."

Statewide officials have said this election continues a pattern of unusual elections.

"You're dealing this year with a lot of variables that make it difficult to compare," said Matt Dietrich, a spokesman for the state board of elections.

The number of early votes suggests a higher turnout before election day than in the past. This year, 460,000 voters have already turned in their ballots, with another 166,000 vote-by-mail ballots having been sent but not yet returned. In 2018, the most recent midterm election, 450,000 people voted early and by-mail.

Vote-by-mail ballots returned on election day will be counted as long as the correct election authority receives them by July 12.

Dietrich said that because of the pandemic, changes in voter preferences and the off timeline for this year's primary election, it's hard to say how this year stacks up against previous years.

Other statewide races

Though it hasn't received as much attention as the fiercely competitive race for governor, this election is the first in more than 20 years without Secretary of State Jesse White on the ballot.

Former state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias won the Democratic primary and state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington won the Republican primary.

With 71% of the estimated vote counted, Giannoulias led the Democratic primary with 52.8% of the vote. Brady had 76.3% of Republican votes, with 67% of the vote counted.

Three other Democrats ran to replace White: Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia, Chicago Ald. David Moore and the similarly named Sidney Moore. On the Republican side, former U.S. Attorney John Milhiser also ran.

The other statewide races were less competitive. Incumbent Attorney General Kwame Raoul ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

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Attorney Tom DeVore won the Republican primary for attorney general. The downstate lawyer made headlines over the past two years by leading lawsuits against the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic

He defeated Steve Kim, who ran for attorney general with financial support of Irvin against DeVore. Attorney David Shestokas also ran, though he did not campaign as much as his opponents and hasn't reported raising any funds to the state board of elections.

With 93.6% of the estimated vote counted, DeVore led the Republican primary, with 44.4% of the vote to Kim's 34.5% and Shestokas' 21.1%.

Only one candidate of each party ran for comptroller and treasurer. Assuming there are no issues with the election, incumbent Comptroller Susana Mendoza, the Democratic former city clerk of Chicago, will face off against Shannon Teresi, the Republican McHenry County auditor.

The treasurer's race will see incumbent Democrat Michael Frerichs face off against state Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, who has advocated for combining the treasurer's office with the comptroller's office.

Contact Andrew Adams: aadams1@gannett.com; (312)-291-1417; twitter.com/drewjayadams.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Democrat JB Pritzker, GOP Darren Bailey face off for Illinois governor