April 19, 2024
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Republican Darren Bailey makes campaign stop in Sycamore; talks gas prices

Attorney General candidate Thomas DeVore opens event for Bailey at Tom & Jerry’s

By Wes Sanderson
Election 2024
Darren Bailey, a Republican candidate for Illinois governor, talks to supporters Friday, June 17, 2022, during his campaign stop at Tom and Jerry's in Sycamore. Bailey is currently on a bus tour across the state that will cover 102 countys in 14 days.

Darren Bailey, a Republican candidate for Illinois governor, talks to supporters Friday, June 17, 2022, during his campaign stop at Tom and Jerry's in Sycamore. Bailey is currently on a bus tour across the state that will cover 102 counties in 14 days. (Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com/Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.co)

Downstate Republican State Sen. Darren Bailey continued his 102-county swing through Illinois on Friday stopping at Tom & Jerry’s restaurant in Sycamore, where local primary voters came out to hear from the gubernatorial candidate directly.

With just 11 days left before Illinois’ June 28 primary election, a crowd of around 70 people filled the outdoor patio waiting for the candidate’s motorcoach to arrive.

Chants of “Bailey,” and “Fire J.B.” rung out before Bailey exited the bus. Thomas DeVore, a Downstate attorney who is seeking the GOP Illinois attorney general nomination, opened the event for Bailey. DeVore, who joined Bailey in fighting Gov. JB Pritzker’s COVID-19 mitigation efforts, said that he’s been with Bailey “since the beginning.”

Bailey, of Xenia, spoke to the crowd about the struggles Illinoisans are facing such as high fuel prices and farm operating costs.

“I know you’re struggling with the exact same thing,” Bailey said. “All of this could be solved, or helped out greatly, with one call from the governor, from the president of the Senate, from the speaker of the House and begin the work that representatives are actually supposed to be doing.”

Bailey said that, if elected governor, he would push to pass tax relief and work to keep residents living in Illinois.

“We’ve got to bring the Caterpillars, announcing their exodus a few days ago, that’s got to stop,” Bailey said. “People want jobs, people want tax relief. People want to be able to raise their families right here in Illinois, all over the state.”

Bailey is currently riding a wave from a June 10 Chicago Sun-Times/ WBEZ Radio poll that found him with a 15-point lead over Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin.

Nevertheless, Bailey urged supporters to encourage people to vote this month.

“Make sure everyone you know is registered to vote,” Bailey said. “Make sure they are educated and informed how to vote and who to vote for ... That is how we will win.”

Bailey’s reiterated his campaign talking point that it’s time for a “true conservative” to run Illinois and that his record over the past two years in Springfield shows he’s the one to do it.

“I say it’s time for something different,” Bailey said. “I say you have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

The Illinois primary is scheduled for June 28. The winner of the six-candidate Republican field will go on to face either Gov. JB Pritzker or Democratic challenger Beverly Miles in the Nov. 8 general election.

A list of election day polling locations can be found through the DeKalb County Clerks’ office.