With antisniper security on rooftops in downtown Yorkville for the Sept. 27 Charlie Kirk memorial, one speaker remarked it’s sad this is the current state of American political discourse.

Organized by Kendall Action, a conservative fundraising PAC, the event was part sermon, “a revival born in Charlie Kirk’s name,” part rally, with Darren Bailey campaigning as a Republican candidate for governor.

A unifying message shared by the crowd was that the Sept. 10 killing of Kirk by a sniper’s bullet took something personal away from each of them, something that touches their faith.

“When we exchange ideas as a society, we win,” State Rep. Jed Davis, R-Newark, said to the crowd. “When you start to silence that opportunity, that God-given right the founders of this nation wrote into the Constitution, that we have the right to free speech, the right to have free and open dialogue, when that is silenced, the people lose.”

Kicking off his election tour, Bailey, a former Republican state senator, called Kirk’s killing a tragic loss of “a great American treasure.” He brought up Abraham Lincoln’s prescient warning.

“He warned that if we as America falter and lose our freedom, it won’t happen from outside our borders, but it will happen from within,” Bailey said during the rally. “We’ve got a governor who’s using all of this as rhetoric against us to make life more unsafe for us.”

In an interview, Bailey was asked what can be done to tone down political violence.

“We need to focus on the people that we’re electing, because we have to bring unity to this nation,” Bailey said. “We look for a stronger and different candidate to take that position, a leader who’s bold and courageous and desires unity instead of division.”

Bailey, who lost the 2022 gubernatorial election to Democratic incumbent JB Pritzker by almost 13 percentage points, said he sees growing support for his platform.

“Taxes are too high, opportunities don’t exist,” Bailey said. “Businesses are being pushed out. Our younger generation is leaving Illinois.”

Bailey said families are struggling with affordability because, “Pritzker’s policies have finally hit the pocketbook.”

On Kirk’s slaying, and recent attacks against Democratic lawmakers, such as the state representative killed in Minnesota, and the arson attack against Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Pritzker said the increase in political violence is apparent.

“Democracy is designed to avoid political violence, and it’s now incumbent upon leaders of all stripes to work together to stop it,” Pritzker said.

Pritzker took heat from conservatives for connecting the rhetoric of President Donald Trump to the normalization of dehumanizing your opponent.

“It’s got to stop, and I think there are people who are fomenting it in this country,” Pritzker said. “I think the president’s rhetoric often foments it.”

While telling the crowd that people can work across the aisle to get things done, Davis asked how could “one side get so swept away in delusion that this is what resulted?”

Bailey’s running mate, Aaron Del Mar of Palatine, told the crowd it was sad that political figures currently need security everywhere they go. In an interview, Del Mar said he believes the Illinois Republican party is no longer fractured.

He said the cohesion is inspired by “affordability and making sure you have the ability to live in your own home without getting pushed out by oppressive taxes.”

Del Mar said expanded educational opportunities need to be provided whether the student is heading into the military, the workforce, trade school or college.

“We need to make sure your child is prepared when they graduate high school to be an active part of our community and want to stay in Illinois and not just leave.”

The Democratic Governors Association released a statement saying Bailey is regressive for the state.

“Bailey has returned for another attempt to drag Illinois backwards and bring Trump’s chaotic, destructive, and deeply unpopular agenda to the state. Bailey’s toxic record includes opposing sensible measures to reduce gun violence, aligning himself with the far-right, and supporting extreme plans to ban abortion,” according to the release.

• Capitol News Illinois contributed to this story.