Illinois Governors Race: 6 Challengers In Republican Primary Look To Unseat Pritzker

SPRINGFIELD, IL — The race for the Republican nomination for Illinois governor is due to be decided Tuesday when the party's field of gubernatorial hopefuls is whittled down from a half-dozen men to a single GOP flag-bearer aiming to deny Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker a second term.

Each of the leading candidates seeking to unseat the nation's wealthiest elected official — as the heir to the Hyatt hotels fortune, Pritzker has a net worth of $3.6 billion — has the backing of their own billionaire financier.

Recent polling has shown one candidate — Xenia State Sen. Darren Bailey — has opened up a double-digit lead ahead of Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin and Petersburg businessman Jesse Sullivan.

Bailey picked up former President Donald Trump's endorsement at a rally Saturday in Quincy. Trump compared Chicago to Afghanistan unfavorably and had harsh words for the incumbent governor, a frequent critic of the former president.

"I dealt with this guy Pritzker, and I'm telling you, so bad, so pathetic. He's got money, that's about it. He's got other things too — they're not good," Trump said.

Trump described Bailey as a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and religious liberty who will "crackdown on the violent crime that is devouring our Democrat-run cities and restore the state of Illinois to greatness."

Bailey has campaigned on a complete return to normalcy and reopening of the economy, opposition to taxpayer funding of abortions, gun owner advocacy, educational reform and lower taxes.

"I think you're going to win the primary very big," Trump told the GOP front-runner at Saturday's rally. "And I think you're going to go on and win the election, so we're going to be with you all the way."

Bailey, 56, a farmer and former school board member, made statewide headlines during the first wave of the state's coronavirus outbreak when he sued Pritzker and other state officials over restrictions associated with the pandemic. His campaign's biggest financial backer has come from Lake Forest billionaire Dick Uihlein, who had contributed more than $9 million, according to campaign finance reports.

"I'm only one person standing in the circle right now that actually did something taking the bull by the horns, suing Governor Pritzker over these mandates and winning," Bailey said at a WLS-TV/League of Women Voters/Univision debate earlier this month. "Government educates, government informs and government lets a free people choose what they want to do."

During the debate, Bailey focused his attacks on Irvin, who had appeared to have taken an early lead in the race with the aid of $50 million in backing from hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, who was the state's richest man until recently moving to Florida.

"I just want to take this time, Mr. Irvin, to address you something. I'm glad you're here tonight. Because I want to let you know something. I'm not interested in defeating you just because you're a Democrat. I'm interested in defeating you because you are a corrupt Democrat," Bailey said.

Irvin, a 52-year-old two-term suburban mayor, has focused his campaign on reducing crime, taxes and corruption. The campaign has assembled an extensive list of endorsements, including House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, former Congressman John Shimkus and former Illinois GOP Chair Tim Schneider.

But Irvin has been unable to solidify a strong base of support among Republican primary voters, according to polls.

As an early front-runner, his campaign faced headwinds from reports about his history of voting in Democratic Party primaries, text messages in which he says he hates the former president and calls Trump "an idiot!!! and a bigoted racist," questions about his handling of his ex-girlfriend's arrest last year at a local cannabis dispensary and an unwillingness to comment on the leaked draft of the Supreme Court opinion that overturned Roe vs. Wade Friday.

Irvin did comment on the ruling after it was released, saying it would have no effect on Illinois law due to Democratic majorities in Springfield.

During this month's debate, Irvin pointed to the tens of millions of dollars of television and other advertisements that Pritzker and the Democratic Governors Association have run against him.

"I know I threaten these gentlemen's aspirations, and I know they're going to attack me, and that's OK," Irvin said.

"But the reality is, you got to wonder why is JB Pritzker spending tens of millions of dollars to attack me, and to help my opponent Darren Bailey? Because he knows Darren Bailey can't win a general election against him, and he knows that I'll beat him," he continued. "That's why he's spending, in the Republican primary, tens of millions of dollars to take me down because he knows that if I get the general I'm going to beat him and I'm going to be the Republican governor for the state of Illinois."

The only other candidate to have broken into double-digit support in polls is Jesse Sullivan, the 38-year-old CEO of the venture capital firm Alter Global, which was founded five years ago when Sullivan moved back to Illinois from California.

Alter Global was initially a tax-exempt charitable organization that at one point declared $4.1 million in revenue, largely through donations of cryptocurrency. But by 2020, it had lost $1.4 million in investment income and its net assets had fallen by two-thirds in two years, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Sullivan's campaign's largest funder is the co-founder of Alter Global, California tech billionaire Chris Larsen, who gave his political committee $5 million last year to launch his bid for governor, according to campaign finance records.

Using images of himself in military fatigues in his campaign materials, Sullivan has touted his experience working as a civilian for Defense Department operations in Afghanistan.

“I was part of the human terrain teams, which were the Intel side of the Army,” Sullivan told WCIA last year. The controversial Human Terrain System program was shut down in 2014 after being plagued by fraud and racial and sexual harassment, USA Today reported.

Sullivan's campaign messages have also emphasized his Christian faith and opposition to abortion. In one of his television ads, he notes that he took a bus to an anti-abortion march in 2004 and is currently a foster parent.

"After decades of fighting to overturn Roe vs. Wade so many prayers around the nation, it's finally here," Sullivan said in a video posted to social media following Friday's Supreme Court decision.

"Now this battle for life and the front lines moves right here to Illinois. We need a governor that will stand proudly for life," he said. "We have a governor that not only taxes us to death, he taxes us to murder unborn children."

Gary Rabine, 59, is a Bull Valley resident and CEO of Schaumburg-based Rabine Paving, which he purchased from his father in 1994 and grew to a multimillion-dollar operation.

"It's time to elect a leader who's built and turned around businesses and understands what it's like to turn things around. Because boy, we need it in Illinois," Rabine said during this month's debate. "My moonshot: to be the state by 2025 where more people are moving into our state than any other state in America. When we do this, it will be the biggest turnaround in the history of our country."

His campaign has touted the endorsements of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, UFC Fighter Frank Mir, ex-NFL player Don Beebe, Club for Growth co-founder Stephen Moore and conservative activist Charlie Kirk. According to his website, Rabine was a key early investor in Kirk's organization, Turning Point, and a founding board member of the group Job Creators Network, a conservative group started by Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus.

Former State Sen. Paul Schimpf, 51, of Waterloo, spent 20 years in the Marine Corps, during which he earned a law degree and served as the lead American attorney advisor to Iraqi prosecutors in the trial of Saddam Hussein before his televised 2006 execution, according to his website.

Following his retirement from the military, Schimpf ran unsuccessfully for Illinois attorney general in 2014. Two years later, he defeated former Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon in the race for the 58th District senate seat in Southern Illinois.

"Folks, stuff never seems to change in Illinois. The candidates come and go, but things stay the same," Schimpf said during the debate. "And that's because it's the same mega-donors, the same political operatives, it's the same special interest groups. I'm not beholden to any of those."

Max Solomon, an attorney, actor, former power-lifting champion and flight enthusiast, is also on the Republican ballot. His campaign listed as its priorities: parental choice in education, economic empowerment and stopping crime.

Solomon, 51, an immigrant from Nigeria, ran as a Democrat in the primary for 38th District state representative in 2018, finishing third out of four candidates, before running unopposed in the south suburban district's Republican primary two years later and losing to incumbent Democratic State Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin by 55 percentage points.

"I'm a conservative because our social and cultural values are under attack. Evil used to hide, ladies and gentlemen, not anymore," Solomon said at the debate. "Evil is here and they're attacking our children. I will protect our kids, their security and safety in their schools, and what they learn — make sure there's no indoctrination, only education."

Pritzker is facing a primary challenge from Beverly Miles, a retired U.S. Army major, nurse at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital and former Chicago aldermanic candidate.