This is a countdown of the top 10 stories of 2022 written about by Cat Petersen and/or Kevin Woodard. These are stories in the sense of “stories we followed.” Each of these “stories” had multiple stories written about them and published on our web site.
Number 8. Darren Bailey
Darren Bailey’s name began to appear in the limelight more often as the gubernatorial race began to heat up last spring. One of the first stories his name appeared in this year was in March and about one of his challengers, Jesse Sullivan. Perhaps the most important thing to come out of that story was a discussion regarding big money donors in the campaign.
Chris Larsen, one of the donors, supported Sullivan. Forbes estimated Larsen’s worth at $59 billion, fifth place in their list of world’s richest people. Ken Griffin, who’s also on the Forbes list with $16.1 billion, was the main donor for candidate Richard Irvin. Darren Bailey’s top donors were Richard “Dick” Ellis Uihlein and Elizabeth “Liz” Uihlein who are also billionaires.
By April things were really warming up as Irvin began sending out mailers blasting Bailey. The mailer accused Bailey of voting for President Biden. However, what the mailer left out was context.
Richard Irvin Mailer Blasting Darren Bailey Violates Election Code
“The truth is I did participate with the Rush Limbaugh: Operation CHAOS. That was a program to make sure that Obama and Hillary didn’t get elected,” said Bailey.
Bailey said he might have voted for Biden. But the vote was actually cast in the 2008 Democrat primary in an effort to defeat Hillary Clinton in lieu of voting in the Republican primary to support a candidate.
Also in April a Republican a gubernatorial Republican primary debate was held in Washington, IL. The star of that debate turned out to be an empty stool. The stool was on stage for Irvin. But Irvin wasn’t attending any of the debates. Bailey took advantage of the symbolism. He walked with purpose across the stage, picked up the stool, showed it to the audience and forcefully stated, “I want to talk about this!” He then accused Irvin of lying.
In his closing statement Bailey said, “The man who is not here is attacking me because I am leading. And he knows it.”
In June we ran an informal pole. That pole showed Bailey leading in McLean County with others interested in Sullivan and another candidate, Gary Rabine. Bailey won the Republican primary with 55% of the vote.
Bailey continued campaigning. In July one of his stops was at a Tazewell County Republican Women event.
By August the general election campaign was as hot as the weather. Darren Bailey and JB Pritzker appeared at the same event minutes apart but coordinated so that only one candidate would be on the property at a time. The Illinois Agriculture Legislative Roundtable was held at Schuler Farms east of Lexington.
In a press conference at the event Bailey said, “The Illinois Republican Party needs leadership. I am bringing that. The State of Illinois needs leadership. I am bringing that. And we bring that by focusing on the things that unite us.”
Bailey continued, “And guess what. The things that unite us, JB Pritzker isn’t talking about. He is not talking about the fact that Chicago is a OK corral every night with shootings and homicides. He is not talking about the fact that businesses and families are fleeing our state, every day. He is not talking about the fact that our education is being decimated and our children’s futures are being lost.”
“I have discovered over the last two years that’s what the people of Illinois want fixed. That’s there focus. So we bring that together. That’s what we work on. And that’s how we unite the entire state,” said Bailey.
In October Bailey and Pritzker debated on the ISU campus. In a rally at Uptown Circle before the debate Bailey told the crowd, “I am looking forward to this evening. Got a wonderful crowd that showed up early here. It’s time to expose the truth of what’s taking place in Illinois. And It’s time to expose the failures of JB Pritzker and make sure everyone understands how much he has failed us.”
During the debate both Bailey and Pritzker repeatedly called each other liars.
Bailey and Pritzker Repeatedly Call Each Other Liars During Debate in Normal
One of the top topics at the debate was the Safe-T Act. Pritzker claimed there is no such thing as non detainable offences and claims he has provided $2 billion more dollars for police. Bailey pointed out that he had the support of 102 State’s Attorney’s. He accused Pritzker of writing the law behind closed doors and passing it in the middle of the night. Bailey promised to repeal the SAFE-T act and allow police officers to do their jobs.
Later in October Bailey spoke with Cities regarding the SAFE-T Act telling us that just two States Attorneys have not expressed opposition to the SAFE-T Act, or Purge Law as Joe Rogan had called it, that is Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx and Lake County Eric Rinehart. All 100 of the 102 States Attorneys have spoken out against the SAFE-T Act.
“For Pritzker to stand up there and say he’s the only one that understands this and that everyone is wrong….I find that appalling and it shows how dangerous and out of touch this man is,” said Bailey.
Still in October, on the day of the second Bailey Pritzker debate, we criticized a poll by the Illinois Broadcasters Association (IBA).
The IBA released a poll that week that had Pritzker leading Bailey in the governor’s race “by 22 points.” But the IBA polled registered voters instead of likely voters. On FiveThirtyEight.com’s list of Illinois governor polls, the IBA survey was the only poll listed of nine conducted since August that polled registered voters. Other polls showed a much tighter race with Bailey trailing by only one to five percent.
Just after Halloween, on the weekend before the general election, Bailey visited Bloomington for the last time on the campaign trail appearing at a rally held at Denny’s Doughnuts. Bailey continued emphasizing his crime message as he had all throughout his run.
“You know Halloween is over but the nightmare on Elm St. lives on in Chicago,” Bailey said. “You’ve heard me. I call it Pritzkerville. Strong arm robbery from Broad along Elm St., terrorizing revelers and Gold Coast families that are afraid to walk their dogs.”
“Then in Lawndale last week,” Bailey continued, “Did you here about the 14 people who were shot? A baby and two little girls were injured. We were very close to that as we were returning back into the city and were passed up by lots of law enforcement headed to the scene. Guns had sprayed fire at a community gathering. And friends, this has become normal in the City of Chicago and when we don’t stop this it’s going to be normal in Illinois.”
Bailey lost the election to Pritzker. But he still remains the leading voice in Illinois Republican politics. He continues to speak out on issues like the SAFE-T Act .
