Darren Bailey (Illinois politician)

Darren Bailey was born in Louisville, Illinois, where he lives. He graduated from North Clay High School and earned an associate degree in agricultural production from Lake Land College.⁠[1]

He is a third-generation farmer who runs Bailey Family Farm with his sons, and he has also worked in trucking and excavating.⁠[2][1][3]

With his wife, Cindy, he founded a private Christian school, and he served 17 years on the North Clay Board of Education, 12 of them as president.⁠[2][3]

In 2018 Bailey defeated incumbent state Representative David Reis in the Republican primary for Illinois House District 109 with 56.8% of the vote, then won the general election with 76.1% against Democrat Cynthia Given. He served in the Illinois House from 2019 to 2021.⁠[1]

In 2020 he won the Republican primary for Illinois Senate District 55 with 77.0% and defeated Cynthia Given again in the general election with 76.7%. He served in the state Senate from January 13, 2021, to January 11, 2023.⁠[1]

In the Illinois House and Senate he opposed spending and tax increases and sanctuary-state policies. He has said that he declined a taxpayer-funded pension and that, as the lead Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, he championed tax relief and agriculture.⁠[3][2]

In 2022 Bailey won the Republican primary for governor of Illinois with 57.5%, but lost the general election to Democratic Governor JB PritzkerJB PritzkerJB Pritzker, full name Jay Robert Pritzker, is a Democratic politician, investor and philanthropist who serves as the 43rd governor of Illinois. He was elected in 2018, took office in 2019 and was re-elected in 2022 and 2026. Born into the family that founded Hyatt Hotels, he co-founded and managed Pritzker Group with his brother and has helped promote startup incubation in Chicago and education philanthropy. His policies as governor have covered labor standards, taxation, and the regulation of digital assets and artificial intelligence.Open the full entry, 42.4% to 54.9%. During that campaign he called Chicago a “hellhole,” a remark he later apologized for.⁠[1][4]

On March 19, 2024, Bailey challenged incumbent U.S. Representative Mike Bost in the Republican primary for Illinois’s 12th congressional district and lost, 48.6% to 51.4%.⁠[1]

On March 17, 2026, NBCNBCNBC (National Broadcasting Company) is an American national commercial broadcast television network. It was founded by RCA in 1926, began as a radio network and later developed television. With ABC and CBS it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks; it passed to General Electric with RCA in 1986, merged with Universal to form NBCUniversal in 2004, has been controlled by Comcast since 2011, and is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry News projected that Bailey had won the Republican primary for governor over Ted Dabrowski, DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick and businessman Rick Heidner, setting up a November rematch with Pritzker. He finished with 53.3%, to 29.0% for Dabrowski, 9.6% for Mendrick and 8.1% for Heidner. His running mate for lieutenant governor was Aaron Del Mar, who had been elected a Palatine village councilman at 29.⁠[3][1]

His campaign focused on reducing government spending, cutting taxes and cracking down on crime. Reflecting on his earlier run, he said: “I realized that the messaging, the priorities to me in Southeastern Illinois weren’t necessarily the same for all of Illinois.”⁠[3]

In the general election Bailey promised to focus on affordability, education and public safety, said he would not legislate his personal anti-abortion position, and pledged “more listening and less talking” in the state’s northeastern corner; during the campaign he temporarily moved into an apartment in Chicago’s South Loop. Pritzker’s campaign outspent his by at least 25 to 1, and Bailey lacked the money to buy television time.⁠[4]

The Associated Press called the race for Pritzker as soon as polls closed at 7 p.m. on November 3. At 9:30 p.m., with 61% of votes counted, Bailey had about 37% to Pritzker’s roughly 60%.⁠[4]

At 9:30 p.m. Bailey addressed supporters in Effingham without conceding; Del Mar said the pair would not concede until the votes were counted. Bailey said: “I have no regrets. We hit, we fought, we worked hard, you were by our side – there are no regrets.”⁠[4]

Bailey for Illinois: Official website: https://www.baileyforillinois.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[5]

X: Public account: https://x.com/DarrenBaileyIL (opens in a new window).⁠[5]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJbna2cyfWOBmcZN8Dh_A0g (opens in a new window).⁠[5]