Illinois governor race, GOP primary. Damn it.

[Pete Ross Junior]

‘Downstate farmer’ plows through the field — Darren Bailey handily wins six-candidate GOP governor’s race
Chicago Sun Times

EFFINGHAM, Ill. — Darren Bailey, the MAGA-loving, Bible quoting grain farmer and state senator from downstate Illinois will face Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the November election — thanks in part to an odd and historic pairing of support from former President Donald Trump, Lake Forest mega donor Dick Uihlein and Democrats such as Pritzker himself.

With 96% of precincts counted statewide, Bailey had 57.4% of the vote compared to 15.7% for downstate venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan and 15% for third-place candidate Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin.

Bailey dominated a six-candidate field — including Irvin, who was boosted by a hefty haul of $50 million in campaign cash from Chicago hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin.

...

Of course none of them are any good, but this one got a last minute endorsement from Trump.

It means GOP voters in Illinois are becoming radicalized.

[viva la]

1. It's good for Pritzker though to get the real loon as an opponent

And that Trump endorsement might not be worth too much in a few months.

[Ray Bruns]

3. Exactly. Mary Miller won my district and she is as looney as this guy.

Magats are always going to vote for Magats regardless.

[roamer65]

2. JB for governor!

[mucifer]

4. Governor Pritzker gave him money, too. bailey is considered a weak candidate against Pritzker

Illinois is purple the belief is he has no chance here.

[PortTack]

6. Illinois is not purple. It's like every other blue state that has lrg metro areas of blue and rural

Red areas..just like upstate NY, or northern CA. Sparsely populated areas of red doesn’t cut it.

[mucifer]

7. Our senators and governors switch from red to blue and blue to red

[ProfessorGAC]

10. Not So Much The Senators

There have only been 2 R senators since 1970. Kirk & Fitzgerald.
Governorships have been far more flexible. In that same period of time we've had 5 Rs & 4 Ds as governor. 32 years of Rs, 20 years of dems.

[mucifer]

11. Yeah and if blago wasn't a criminal we might not have gotten rauner. But , now we have to

deal with madigan.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Yeah, That's An Issue

But, i don't see a dirty speaker shifting the legislature balance much.
When a governor is dirty, it's just one person who needs to be launched.

[Totally Tunsie]

14. Ahhhh, Blago. Here's my favorite memory of him:

rofl:

(Geez, I miss Letterman.)

[snowybirdie]

5. Downstate rubes

have always been very different, politically, than in the Chicago area. Turnout will be important. Only about a 20% primary participation in Chicago. That must change in the general.

[edhopper]

8. a little over 400,000 votes

in a State with 8 million voters. Let's see how many more he gets in November.

If he only gets the GOP Magats, he will lose. Fingers crossed.

[asiliveandbreathe]

9. Just an opinion from 538..during last nights returns..IL..

One of the big stories going into tonight, though, wasn’t former President Trump’s influence — it was just how much Democrats meddled in GOP races, elevating the candidacies of more extreme GOP candidates in the hopes that they’d be easier to defeat in the general election.

In the Illinois Republican gubernatorial primary, Democrats got their preferred candidate, as state Sen. Darren Bailey easily won. The thought was that Bailey, as the more conservative candidate in the race, would face a steep uphill battle against incumbent Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, given Illinois’s blue hue. But Democrats might later regret having backed Bailey as much as they did.

...snip...

https://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/ny-illinois-colorado-election-2022/

[MichMan]

17. Reminds me of Michigan governor Rick Snyder in 2010.

He was a virtual unknown businessman who shockingly won the Republican primary with the help of a lot of Democratic support over a field of much better known elected officials.

Guess what. He won the general and enacted many RW policies including Right to Work.

[Sympthsical]

13. Downstate is just Missouri

It has always been thus.

They won't win.

[kacekwl]

15. I saw a clip from Bailey where he said if

you like DeSantis you'll love me. I'm the DeSantis of the Midwest. And of course a trump goon.

[lees1975]

16. Pritzker is running about 28 points ahead of Bailey in recent polling

so I guess that's why they figure he's the weaker candidate. As hostile as the campaign was, and as badly as Richard Irwin got bashed by the GOP establishment, given his position, I would expect him not to endorse Bailey.

Interesting to note that the orange headed buffoon did not jump in with an endorsement until it was almost certain that Bailey would win the nomination. That aspect of Trumpism does not seem to be working out according to his plan.

[brooklynite]

18. Pro-Kinzinger folks put money into pushing Dailey....

Democrats Just Helped a Republican Candidate Win His Primary Because They’re Sure They Can Beat Him