MOLINE, Ill. — Illinois Republicans have chosen conservative state Sen. Darren Bailey to take on Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker for governor this fall.
Bailey defeated five other Republicans on Tuesday to win the nomination. Pritzker, who easily defeated a largely unknown candidate, is seeking his second term.
Bailey is a farmer from Xenia. He is a staunch abortion opponent who raised his statewide profile by opposing restrictions Pritzker put in place during the coronavirus pandemic.
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Bailey on Saturday. That support that may hurt Bailey in a general election for a state where voters rejected Trump by double digits in 2016 and 2020.
Polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday. You can find election results on News 8's election page or below:
Here are the gubernatorial candidates on the Democratic and Republican primary ballots:
Democratic Candidates
Pritzker is the incumbent in the Illinois gubernatorial race. He was sworn as Illinois’ 43rd governor back in 2019, according to the Office of the Governor. Prior to taking office, he founded a nonprofit small business incubator 1871, named one of the top 10 technology startup hubs in the world. Pritzker graduated from Duke University with a bachelor’s degree in political science before going on to earn his Juris Doctorate from Northwestern University School of Law.
Beverly Miles is a lifelong resident of Chicago, according to her campaign website. She is a registered nurse at Hines VA Medical Center with more than 20 years of nursing experience. She served in the U.S. Army as an officer, second lieutenant and retired at the rank of major in 2014. In 2019, she ran in the 28th Ward for the Chicago City Council but did not win. She was elected vice president of a local Veterans Health Administration nursing union chapter, and she was appointed as a member of the City of Chicago’s advisory committee on veterans’ affairs in 2021.
Republican Candidates
Since 2021, Darren Bailey has served as a state senator for Illinois’ 55th District, according to the Illinois General Assembly. He was born, raised and currently resides in Louisville, Illinois. The 56-year-old attended North Clay Unit #25 schools and earned an associate degree in agricultural production from Lake Land College. He previously served one term in the Illinois House of Representatives for the 109th District, and he currently owns and operates a family farm in Clay and surrounding counties.
Paul Schimpf is a lawyer, retired lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Marine Corps and former state senator for Illinois’ 58th District (2017-2021), according to the Illinois General Assembly. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Southern Illinois University School of Law and the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Richard C. Irvin is currently mayor of Aurora, Illinois, the city in which he was raised, according to the City of Aurora website. After graduating from East Aurora High School, Irvin enlisted in the Army. Later, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Robert Morris University and a Juris Doctorate from the Northern Illinois University School of Law. He practiced as an assistant state attorney for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and as a prosecutor for Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office. Prior to becoming mayor, Irvin served for 10 years on the Aurora City Council. He also worked as an adjunct professor at Robert Morris College and Northern Illinois University and as a substitute teacher at East Aurora School District 131.
Businessman Gary Rabine was born and raised in rural McHenry County, Illinois, according to his campaign website. He founded the Rabine Group, a residential paving business, in 1981. Since then, the business has expanded to perform commercial paving, roofing, property analytics and assessment in all 50 states.
Max Solomon, according to his campaign website, earned an associate degree in political science from South Suburban College of Cook County, a bachelor’s degree in political science from DePaul University, a master’s degree in theology from Valparaiso University in Indiana and a Juris Doctorate from the Valparaiso University School of Law. Solomon has worked as a lawyer in private practice in both Illinois and Indiana, an adjunct professor of political science at South Suburban College, an actor with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and a personal fitness trainer. He is also an ordained Christian minister and a four-time U.S. Powerlifting Federation national champion.
Jesse Sullivan, according to his campaign website, was born and raised in Illinois and is the founder of venture capital firm Alter Global. He grew up working on his family’s farm. Sullivan served as special assistant to the Haitian ambassador after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and as a human terrain team analyst on operations in Afghanistan. He went to school at St. Louis University, earned a master’s degree in global governance and diplomacy at Oxford University and received a master’s in business administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
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