Trump endorses GOP governor candidate Darren Bailey | Govt-and-politics

MENDON, Ill. – Former President Donald Trump offered his full support to state Sen. Darren Bailey in the Illinois GOP gubernatorial primaries just days before Tuesday’s primary election.

Trump also offered his support to U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, a Republican from Oakland, as he confronts his fellow incumbent Rodney Davis, a Republican from Taylorville, in the 15th Congressional District.

The former president supported Miller in early January and appeared in a fundraiser he did at his Sea-A-Lake complex in April.

But Trump’s endorsement of Bailey was a new development, one that Republican Xenia has been openly seeking for months. The former president suggested in an interview with The Center Square earlier this week that Bailey would probably be her husband if he endorsed it.

On Saturday, he went further: “Darren is just the man to take on and defeat one of America’s worst governors, JB Pritzker.”

Bailey has opened up a big lead in Republican primaries in recent weeks, according to most public and private polls. He faces Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, paving mogul Gary Rabine, former state Senator Paul Schimpf, lawyer Max Solomon and cryptocurrency venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan.

Trump described Bailey as a farmer, a fighter, “a prominent warrior in the Illinois state Senate,” as well as “a fearless supporter of the Second Amendment and a tireless advocate of religious freedom.”

He also shot Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, who posted a video criticizing the former president before Trump’s visit.

Calling Pritzker “pathetic,” Trump criticized Pritzker’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and compared armed violence in Chicago to the military situation in Afghanistan during his presidency.

“Everyone is fleeing your state. This is a disaster,” Trump said.

He told a story about the meeting with Bailey earlier in the day, saying Bailey pulled a hair from the former president’s head after commenting that it hung on Trump’s face. “Which tells you a lot about Darren: There are no games, right?”

Invited to the stage to address the crowd, Bailey agreed, “I won’t lie to anyone and I won’t let anything go unnoticed.”

Trump’s visit to the district, held about 15 miles north of Quincy at the Adams County Fairgrounds, gives Miller a significant boost in the final stretch of the campaign.

“Mary is a warrior for our movement and our values,” Trump said, calling her a “fearless patriot and first America.”

Miller and Davis have been locked in a heated primary contest between incumbents and incumbents, the result of a district redistribution process in Congress controlled by Democratic lawmakers and the state losing a district after the 2020 U.S. census.

The new 15th is an extensive district that stretches from west to east across central Illinois from the Iowa and Missouri state lines to the Indiana state line. It also includes some peripheral parts of the Metro East region.

Trump won about 68% of the vote in the district in the 2020 election.

While there have been some notable losses on the part of Trump-backed candidates this cycle, most with the former president’s seal of approval win the election.

Miller, a freshman, is a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus. Davis, a five-term incumbent who is in line to chair a committee if Republicans take a majority in the House, is a traditional Conservative with a bipartisan streak.

Davis voted for Trump’s position 89% of the time during the former president’s term. He also served as honorary president of Trump’s 2020 campaign. He even appeared with Trump at a rally in southern Illinois during the final days of the 2018 campaign.

But he had previously revoked his support for Trump in 2016 after the publication of the Access Hollywood tape in which the Republican-era candidate described sexually assaulting women. Davis has not said whether he voted for Trump that year or not.

Davis also voted to certify the victory of President Joe Biden’s election college and was among the 35 Republicans who supported the creation of an independent 9/11-style commission to investigate the September 6 attack. January at the Capitol.

This effort stalled in the Senate and Davis later voted against the creation of the Jan. 6 select committee.

Miller, meanwhile, backed Trump’s efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election in several states.

Speaking to the crowd Saturday, Miller said Davis “betrayed us.”

“My friends, this race is between MAGA and a member of the RINO establishment,” he said, using the acronyms for Trump’s slogan Make America Great Again and Republican in Name Only. “Don’t you miss President Trump?”

Davis is seen as the strongest political organization and as the most experienced retail politician. He has raised more money, although spending on outside groups on Miller’s behalf has equalized the playing field.

Miller, on the other hand, has Trump. Her campaign has been more discreet, shunning local media and being less visible on the track in the hope that the former president’s support will be enough to get her to the finish line.

Her campaign has been marred by controversy, such as a campaign volunteer who took her to campaign events who was convicted of sexually assaulting a child in 2005.

However, it seems to have momentum in the last days of the campaign.

According to a McHenry-based Victory Geek poll published in The Illinoize last week, Davis leads Miller between 38% and 35% with 27% undecided. However, when voters received Trump’s endorsement, Miller leads between 47% and 39%.

Trump’s visit will be further proof of the former president’s control over his party, especially in a bright red district where his popularity is still high.

Hundreds of Trump supporters arrived early to secure a spot at the event. Sometimes he had the festive feel of a college back door, except that his team’s clothes were replaced with “Make America Great Again” hats and Trump flags.

The crowd included both Miller supporters and people who traveled from outside the 15th District of Congress to see the former president.

“She will fight for everything I would fight for,” said Nikki Buehler of Camp Point, who described Miller as “one of us.”

Buehler, 42, said he was concerned that Davis was not a true conservative. He thought Trump’s appearance would help his favorite candidate gain more momentum ahead of election day.

“A lot of people will focus behind him and what he stands for, knowing that this is the president they like best and they think the same way,” he said. “Their values ​​match ours.”

Doug Rowe and his wife Merry Higgin, who woke up at 7 a.m. and drove four hours from Marengo to McHenry County.

“We’ve seen all his rallies; big fans,” said Rowe, 65. “(This is) the first opportunity we’ve had to come see him.”

Speaking before Trump’s comments, Rowe was interested in whether the former president would endorse a GOP gubernatorial candidate, which he said would be the deciding factor in winning his vote.

Without a confirmed endorsement, Rowe said he was inclined to vote for Bailey. “I think he’s the most aligned with Trump,” Rowe said. “My values ​​are aligned with those of the president.”