Democrat Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker won a third term in office Tuesday, defeating Republican Darren Bailey for the second consecutive gubernatorial election.
The Associated Press (AP) called the race for Pritzker at 7 p.m. With less than one percent of votes counted, Pritzker had received 70 percent of the vote, or 13,210 votes, compared to Bailey’s 26.6 percent, or 5,025 votes. Independent candidate Collin Corbett had received 3.3 percent, or 632 votes.
Pritzker previously defeated Bailey in the 2022 gubernatorial election, receiving 54.91 percent of the vote, or 2,253,748 votes, compared to Bailey’s 42.37 percent, or 1,739,095 votes. During that campaign, Bailey criticized Pritzker’s criminal justice policies, particularly the SAFE-T Act, which included provisions ending cash bail and restricting police use of force. Bailey pledged to repeal the law, saying it made it harder to charge murder accomplices and allowed anonymous, unsworn complaints to be filed against law enforcement officers.
During a September 20 appearance on ABC’s This Week, Pritzker described President Donald Trump’s administration as “the most corrupt presidency that we’ve seen in our lifetimes, maybe ever in the United States,” alleging that Trump and members of his administration were financially benefiting from their positions.
“[Trump’s] essentially stealing from the American public and certainly making money, making decisions that shouldn’t be made, so that he can put money in his pockets and he can put money in his own family’s pockets,” Pritzker said. He suggested Democrats could campaign on allegations of corruption in the midterm elections, adding, “We ought to be pushing back and holding him accountable.”
During a September 9 appearance on CNN’s The Arena, Pritzker suggested Trump could deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to polling locations during the midterm elections. “And I expect that he may try to do that. They’ll be wearing camouflage uniforms. They’ll be carrying automatic weapons like they did when they invaded our city before,” Pritzker said.
The governor also cited Illinois’ legal challenge to the deployment of National Guard troops, saying, “We won in the Supreme Court to prevent him from sending the National Guard into our streets. We can’t prevent him from sending CBP and ICE.” He added, “What our job is as governors and in our states is to protect people’s right to vote,” calling for state or party organizations to escort voters to polling places.
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