Bailey Chooses Former Talk Show Host as Running Mate
Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) announced former WLS-AM talk show host Stephanie Trussell as his running mate Monday. Bailey is the first Republican candidate for governor to publicly announce his running mate. (Photo credit: Bailey campaign video)
Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), perceived by some to be the frontrunner in the GOP field for Governor next year, is the first Republican candidate to announce his running mate.
Monday, Bailey announced he was selecting former WLS-AM talk show host Stephanie Trussell as his running mate. Trussell is a neophyte candidate, having won an “American Idol” style talk show host competition at WLS in 2012 and hosting a weekend show for 7 years until she was released in 2019.
“Better days are ahead for Illinois, but only if you make real conservative changes,” Trussell said as Bailey introduced her Monday in suburban Lisle. “Pritzker is a failure. We can’t afford four more years of failure. It will kill this great state. Let’s put the days of slick politicians and rich elites who don’t understand our problems behind us.”
Within hours of the announcement, Bailey’s campaign was already working to deflect comments Trussell made in 2016 critical of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. Bailey is running a campaign targeted at Trump’s base. First the campaign made Trussell’s Twitter account private, locking down old tweets from public scrutiny and deleting her personal Facebook page.
In a follow up post on a new campaign-affiliated page, Trussell, who previously said Trump made her “skin crawl,” walked back previous comments.
“I support President Trump 100%,” she wrote. “A lot of people had early concerns with President Trump and came on board to support his campaign. I love this country, and I continue to support the America First agenda that fights for working people; and I voted for President Trump in 2016 and campaigned and voted for him in 2020. I am a fighter and not someone who always toes the party line, but I support President Trump and I will not apologize to the internet trolls or the left-wing media for who I am.”
Democrats were quick to jump on Bailey’s choice, calling Trussell’s views “bizarre” and “wildly out of touch.”
“The first lieutenant governor candidate announcement is in line with what we’d expect from this anti-choice, anti-science field of extremist, far-right candidates,” said Abby Witt, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Illinois. “Illinois Republicans want to overturn Roe, rip needed health care from hundreds of thousands of people, deny the science on COVID-19, and take us backwards.”
Some Republican insiders questioned Bailey’s logic.
“She's not a grassroots activist and she isn't overly active in Republican or conservative politics. So she doesn't bring him votes or bodies that way,” said one longtime GOP operative who asked to remain anonymous. “Maybe this move is to shore up Bailey's base to secure the Primary. Though it does little to help in the General, and likely hurts.”
The GOP operative believes Bailey and his team could have “romanticized” about Trussell as their own version of Winsome Sears, the African American woman who was recently elected Lt. Governor of Virginia.
“Virginia voters and Illinois voters are not the same,” the operative said.