Darren Bailey was all smiles Monday evening before his final rally of the primary campaign. In a holding room at the Des Plaines Theater in suburban Cook County, Bailey was joined by an entourage of friends and supporters all with the confidence believing Bailey will win the GOP nomination for Governor Tuesday.

The Illinoize was granted an exclusive interview with Bailey. Some of the questions and answers have been edited for length or clarity.

The Illinoize: We’re just a few hours before the polls open. By all indications, you’re going to win this thing, and let’s be fair, a lot of people blew off your campaign. They said you’re an out-of-touch southern Illinois hayseed. How did you do this?

Darren Bailey: We went to the people. I’ve stood up for the people as a State Representative, coming into office at the exact same time as JB Pritzker, coming in to the super minority in the Republican party. I began to realize with some of the people who came in with me, working people from southern Illinois, we began to realize what a mess [state government] was. We started standing up. We were standing up against our own establishment, calling out half the Republicans who voted to increase the gas tax. A lot of these fights took place in the Republican caucus meetings, out of view of the public. Then the lockdowns came. Deep down here, something didn’t feel right. A lot of people don’t realize this. I went to the House [GOP] leadership, the Senate [Republican] leadership, I went to the Illinois Republican Party, and I suggested we have an opportunity. I’ve never sued anyone in my life, I’m not an attorney. Let’s do something. I was turned down and refused by everybody. So, I prayed about it and decided to move forward with it and we gained notoriety when we won that lawsuit. Starting in July 2020, Cindy and I were traveling all over the state to these open schools, open business, open church rallies and we began to realize something’s going on. The reality is I’ve been up here for two years now. I’ve been in the communities. People are hungry for leadership and the irony is we were just trying to get the Republican party to stand up on its platform and they didn’t want to. People see someone willing to stand up and fight for them. I think that’s why the movement has continued to grow such as it has.

Illinoize: Trump lost Illinois by 17 points. I’ve argued maybe you start out with a 15-to-17 point disadvantage in the fall. Do you disagree with that and how do you overcome it?

Bailey: We’ll overcome anything with our hard work ethic, just exactly what we’ve been doing. Just another leg of the journey starts on Wednesday and we’ll be doing the same thing. Basically, by the time this summer is over with, high inflation, high gas prices, high food prices, high utility prices, the lack of fuel, the lack of food, the lack of energy, I think people are going to be ripe and ready for a change. I’m warning people ahead of time because I think something ugly is about to happen (economically.)

Illinoize: Be frank with me. You’re going to be the most conservative Republican nominee in at least a century and we’re talking about a state that does not elect super conservative statewide candidates. How do you with your heavily Christian influenced outlook, southern drawl, that little bit of disassociation up here when you’re trying to talk to moderate suburban moms. The Pritzker campaign is going to paint you as extreme and crazy. How do you appeal up here when you come from a different world?

Bailey: We show up and we listen. It’s what we’ve been doing. We’ve been in the churches on the south side and the west side. People are hungry for something different. When was the last time Illinois elected a true conservative governor? Even Thompson and Edgar have been 40 years. Where has Illinois gone since then? Illinois is the stench of the nation and people know that. People are frustrated. People here in Chicago are very frustrated. We’re on their doorsteps, we’re in their meetings, we’re in their churches, we’re in the restaurants with small business owners. People know Illinois is in trouble and I think they’re going to be ready, even by the time we get our message out over these next four months, they’re going to be ready to do something different. Those suburban moms now have our back because when they’re children went back to school masked up in 2021, they were very frustrated about that. I feel like we’ve got the momentum on our side while the establishment of both parties don’t have a clue what these people want or what they’re thinking.

Illinoize: Do you regret the comment calling Chicago a hellhole?

Bailey: No I don’t. I called a problem out. I called it a crime ridden, dysfunctional hellhole and six hours later, a man was lit on fire and burned [The Walking Man]. By the way, the gentleman who committed that crime was out bail free. We have to identify the problem, then we tackle it, then we solve it. That’s what I do.

Patrick Pfingsten

@pfingstenshow

patrick@theillinoize.com