(Lea esta historia en español vía Telemundo Chicago aquí)
We’re less than a month away from the 2022 general election, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker will seek reelection against two other candidates.
Pritzker, first elected in 2018, is facing opposition from Republican State Sen. Darren Bailey and downstate diesel technician and Air Force veteran Scott Schluter.
Here are brief biographies of the three candidates.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker (Democrat)
Pritzker, a businessman and philanthropist, defeated former Gov. Bruce Rauner in the 2018 general election, and is seeking a second term in Springfield.
During his campaign, the governor has touted his record and performance in guiding Illinois through the COVID-19 pandemic, and has made the argument that his administration’s policies have helped improve Illinois’ economic standing, pointing to multiple credit ratings upgrades and more-balanced budgets that Democrats have pushed through in recent years.
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Pritzker has also campaigned on protecting access to abortion and other reproductive care for Illinois women in the aftermath of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade earlier this year.
Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton is also on the ballot for the Democrats this November. A former state representative and the former director of the Center for Public Safety and Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Stratton says she will continue to emphasize restorative justice and making the justice system more equitable if elected to a second term.
You can read more about the Pritzker/Stratton ticket on their website here.
State Sen. Darren Bailey (Republican)
Bailey, a former state representative who was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 2019, defeated a crowded field of Republican challengers to earn the party’s nomination in June, knocking off Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin and businessman Jesse Sullivan in the primary.
Bailey hails from downstate Xenia, and operates the Bailey Family Farm along with his sons. The family also operates other businesses in the area.
During the COVID pandemic, Bailey was frequently critical of the Pritzker administration’s handling of the mitigations deployed to fight the impacts of the virus, and even sued the governor over a stay-at-home order issued by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Bailey has pledged to lower property and income taxes for Illinoisans. He has also campaigned on a platform of giving parents more control over the education of their children, and has also pledged to turn back efforts to provide taxpayer funding for abortions, as well as pushing back against what he calls an “extreme overhaul and expansion of abortion access” in the state.
Bailey’s running mate is Stephanie Trussell, who spent seven years as the host of a conservative radio talk show in Chicago. She has pledged to aid Bailey in passing laws to make Illinoisans safer, and has also said she intends to work to reform education in the state.
You can read more about the Bailey/Trussell ticket on their website.
Scott Schluter (Libertarian)
Schluter also hails from southern Illinois, having received degrees from Southeastern Illinois College and having served in the United States Air Force for six years.
He currently works as a diesel technician, and also serves in a variety of other roles, including serving as the chair of the Southern Illinois Libertarian Party and in the Veterans for Foreign Wars.
Schluter says that he intends to make government more transparent in the way it decides which mitigations to implement, such as in the fight against COVID, and has also pledged to vigorously overhaul the state’s tax code and its criminal justice system. He also says that the subject of term limits, frequently brought up throughout the state, should be left up to voters through a constitutional amendment vote.
You can read more about Schluter's campaign on his website.
