Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has earned a second term in office, NBC News has projected, signaling the incumbent's defeat of Republican challenger and Illinois State Sen. Darren Bailey, who said he called the governor Tuesday night to congratulate him.
Pritzker, who defeated incumbent Bruce Rauner in the 2018 election, will be sworn in for a second term in office in 2023, along with Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, after defeating Bailey and Republican Lt. Gov. candidate Stephanie Trussell.
"Tonight, you made history," Pritzker said as he addressed supporters. "Four years ago, I told you that we would think big, that we'd write a new playbook, that we put government back on the side of working families, that we would be bold, and we didn't waste any time. We raised the minimum wage to a livable wage. We guaranteed a woman's right to choose. We balanced the budget, paid all our overdue bills and got six credit upgrades."
In a speech to supporters, Bailey said he will "never stop listening to your voices."
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"I just spoke to Gov. Pritzker and congratulated him on his win tonight," Bailey said, noting, "I may not be going to Springfield as your next governor, but I will never stop fighting for you."
Pritzker poured millions of dollars of his personal fortune into the race, touting his record on improving Illinois’ economic outlook while balancing the state’s budget and paying off its backlog of bills.
The governor also emphasized his administration’s work in protecting abortion access rights in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision overturning the Roe v. Wade precedent.
The latter argument was made forcefully by Pritzker’s campaign to cast Bailey as a conservative extremist that would strip Illinois women of their access to the procedure, with Bailey previously stating he did not support abortion, even in cases of rape or incest.
Bailey was also criticized for comparing abortion to the Holocaust, and was painted as too conservative for Illinois voters after receiving the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
For his part, Bailey received significant financial backing from billionaire Dick Uihlein, who poured at least $50 million into political action committees that ran a series of attack ads against Pritzker.
Those ads largely focused on issues of crime in Illinois, with Pritzker’s administration blasted for its support of the “SAFE-T Act,” which Bailey argued would cause thousands of criminal defendants to be released from prison on “non-detainable offenses.”
Bailey also criticized Pritzker’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, having filed suit against the governor’s “stay-at-home” order in 2020. He argued that Pritzker was a “thief” that had robbed children of “precious memories” with his administration’s emphasis on virtual learning during the pandemic.
If Bailey had won, he would have been just the second Republican governor to hold the office since George Ryan decided not to run for reelection in the 2002 race. Bruce Rauner was governor for one term before losing to Pritzker in 2018.
