Bailey Finally Goes Up on TV
Screenshot of a Darren Bailey television ad.
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With fewer than four weeks to go before Election Day, with early and absentee voting already underway, GOP nominee for governor, Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), launches his first TV ad today.
The :30 ad focuses on crime. In a windbreaker in front of a taped off “scene” with police lights flashing, Bailey says directly to camera he will “end” the no-cash bail policy that takes effect on January 1, even though he likely won’t have legislative majorities to do so.
“It’s a decent introductory ad, but it should have been running in July, not in mid-October,” said one longtime GOP operative. “I fear this is all too little, too late.”
The ad appears to be a 10-day flight only on Chicago broadcast stations totaling around $500,000. In comparison, Governor JB Pritzker’s campaign has spent more than that on far cheaper cable channels in the past two weeks.
While Bailey has received some positive ads from talk show host Dan Proft’s PAC, the third party ads have mostly focused on Pritzker.
It’s unclear if Bailey will have enough money to stay on TV after the initial flight or if billionaire Richard Uihlein, who has been funding the Proft effort, will contribute more directly to Bailey in the final four weeks of the campaign.