Three of the four Republicans vying for the nomination for Illinois governor appeared at a forum in McHenry recently, trying to differentiate themselves but aligning on many issues.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey was present, but his running mate, Aaron Del Mar, spoke on his behalf.

Del Mar said Bailey was observing his grandson Samuel’s “heavenly birthday” and the family was “celebrating in memoriam for him.”

Bailey’s son Zachary, daughter-in-law Kelsey and two grandchildren, Vada Rose and Samuel, died in a helicopter crash in October.

Del Mar said his campaign was looking forward to another opportunity for Bailey to talk about the campaign’s positions.

But the three Republicans for governor, businessman Rick Heidner, former editor of conservative research publication Wirepoints Ted Dabrowski and DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick, aligned on many issues, including immigration and the SAFE-T Act.

On immigration:

The candidates largely agreed on the issue, taking aim at sanctuary policies and the TRUST Act, which prohibits local law enforcement from aiding federal immigration officials and was signed into law by former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2017.

Speaking the day after a second U.S. citizen was killed during an encounter with federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, the GOP hopefuls said they want Illinois to work with federal immigration officials.

Heidner and Mendrick explicitly said they would take action to end sanctuary policies on their first day in office.

Dabrowski said Illinois must “unwind” the policies and immediately begin cooperating with federal officials.

“That would stop the chaos. We should be handing over bad guys directly from the local jails right to the federal authorities. Then ICE would not have to be on the streets chasing them down,” Dabrowski said.

Mendrick said ending sanctuary policies would “stop the raids.”

“Here’s the big joke to all this. ... Sanctuary, safety ... nice words. Those are monikers built by liberal media until you get to assault weapons, and then it’s that moniker, right? That’s how they program you,” he said.

Mendrick said without sanctuary policies, ICE would have access to 92 jails across Illinois. He said ICE would have to increase headcount and become a transport unit, picking up hundreds of illegal immigrants who have broken additional laws.

“Isn’t that what [everybody] wants? We want the ones that broke the laws. Open up our jails day one,” Mendrick said.

Heidner said he would contact ICE and tell them to pick up criminals in the state’s jails.

“It’s criminal what they’ve done to us,” Heidner said.

Heidner also acknowledged the alignment between the candidates on immigration and other issues. He said they were all speaking the same language and “our hearts and our souls are all in the right spot.”

Heidner said if things were done correctly, “within six to eight weeks, we would have had ICE out of here.”

Del Mar, Bailey’s running mate, said he wants the TRUST Act to “disappear” along with the SAFE-T Act.

On the SAFE-T Act:

The candidates also expressed support for repealing the SAFE-T Act, the controversial criminal justice reform law that, among other things, did away with cash bail.

Mendrick said he would aim to get rid of as much of the SAFE-T Act as he can, but said it would require legislative action. He thinks he can work across the aisle to enact a category-based system where felonies and “multiple-count misdemeanors” would carry mandatory detention.

Mendrick touted endorsements from sheriffs and said he had a dropping recidivism rate.

Dabrowski said prosecutors and judges are letting “bad guys” go “with no accountability” and wants to set up a system tracking prosecutors and judges and their records.

On protests:

Dabrowski said he supports the right to protest but contended Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, who is seeking a third term this year.

Dabrowski contended Pritzker is “fomenting violence” and “chaos” through his criticisms of federal immigration agents as “thugs” and comparing their tactics to those in Nazi Germany.

Dabrowski called Pritzker’s words “nasty” and “wrong” and reiterated that cooperation with federal authorities would end “these violent protests.”

Mendrick cited street takeovers in Chicago and said that if that happens in DuPage County, police put squad cars on all four legs of the intersection and “arrest everything in between.” Cars also are impounded, Mendrick said.

Heidner contended that protesters in Minneapolis are “doing all of this so that they can conceal all the criminal activity that they have done,” and he doesn’t want to see that come to Illinois. He also said people who pay protesters should be sent to jail.

The candidates didn’t directly mention the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minnesota the day before.

Taxes:

Finding savings and curbing public spending was an area of overlap.

But Mendrick said he would seek an investigative audit, which he contended would uncover fraud and find savings.

“How to stop a supermajority from spending all your money is charge them with crimes. That’s how to do it,” Mendrick said to cheers from the crowd.

He touted his experience investigating financial crimes while in the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office.

“I eat up criminal financiers for a living. That’s what I do,” Mendrick said.

Dabrowski said he would support doing what Indiana does, with a 1% property tax cap. But if Illinois goes that route, it would have to look at where to cut, and he said there’s massive administrative bloat at schools. He supported an Illinois version of President Trump’s federal DOGE effort.

Heidner said Illinois has become a “state of taking.” He said he would freeze taxes and bring new business to Illinois. He also wanted to go through every line item in the budget. Then the state would make more money with those businesses, and after the additional money and “savings from the cheating,” Illinois could start reducing taxes.

Other topics:

The candidates also expressed support for protecting gun rights. Mendrick said the Constitution, not a FOID card, gives people the right to bear firearms.

Mendrick said he doesn’t want “sexuality” in schools and libraries or “porn in our schools” and “I think we need to stop scrubbing God out of society.”

Still, he said he has developed relationships with different groups through his career in law enforcement.

“I am here for you. I help you even if you hate me,” Mendrick said, adding he’s been “nonpartisan” in a blue county and gets many blue votes.

Heidner acknowledged having donated to politicians from both political parties and said Dabrowski would go after him for it. Heidner said that, like Trump, he has donated to both Democrats and Republicans and that while he is a Republican, he is also a businessman.

“Kim Foxx is the one that I apologize for because I didn’t know who she was,” Heidner said, adding he didn’t give her money after she took office. He said he has hosted fundraisers with GOP figures like Donald Trump Jr. and Sarah Huckabee Sanders at his home.

Dabrowski said he wasn’t planning to bring it up, but said Heidner has given money to Democrats, including Brandon Johnson, Don Harmon and Rahm Emanuel.

“That’s OK because he’s in that business, but I think the primary voters have to decide if that’s good or not,” Dabrowski said.

Heidner said that if the Illinois GOP gets every Trump voter out to the polls, the GOP can win, and Republicans are looking for a businessman to run the state. Heidner said Trump is running America like a business, and that’s how Illinois needs to be.

Dabrowski said to defeat Pritzker, candidates have to be able to raise money broadly, which his team has done.

The Illinois GOP field was narrowed down to four people after Republican Joseph Severino of Lake Forest was removed from the ballot for insufficient signatures. Severino was not spotted at the forum but has been campaigning despite the removal.