Hills on Race with Muslim Syed: "About Good vs. Evil"
Sen. Darby Hills (R-Barrington Hills) greeting early voters at the Palatine Public Library Saturday morning. (Photo: The Illinoize)
Sen. Darby Hills (R-Barrington Hills), who is locked in a contentious race with Rep. Nabeela Syed (D-Palatine), injected charged rhetoric into the race Saturday, calling the race with Syed “about good versus evil.”
Speaking to The Illinoize Saturday morning as she spoke to early voters outside the Palatine Public Library, Hills raised the stakes of the race.
“Well, there’s certainly a range of emotions, right? When you’re working seven days a week and you’re having six million dollars thrown against you to [tell] every lie on broadcast television, it certainly is a challenge,” Hills said. “This race is about good versus evil and good will prevail.”
Syed, who is Muslim and wears a hijab, has been the target of racially charged attacks since entering the General Assembly in 2023.
Asked if she believed Syed was evil, Hills attempted to measure her statement.
“I think some of the things that are going on are not good,” Hills said. “What she stands for.”
The comment created significant reaction on social media Saturday.
Hills called Saturday night to clarify her remarks.
“I have been dealing with two months of lies being said about me rather than people standing on their own record. I believe spreading lies about someone, a candidate, over and over, rather than standing on the facts or your policies is an evil thing,
she said. “It’s not [that] the person is evil, the acts are evil.”
Hills said she was not making any statements about Syed’s religion.
“This is not about anti-Muslim. It’s not about religion, it’s not about culture. This is about this campaign,” Hills said. “All I ask is that this be straightforward on the merits, on policy, on facts, rather than lies going up on broadcast television. The facts need to actually be put out there. That’s what I’m talking about.”
Hills, who was appointed to the Senate in February 2025, has faced an uphill battle keeping the gerrymandered northwest suburban seat that has been trending away from Republicans in recent cycles.
Kamala Harris won the district by around 10 points in 2024, Governor Pritzker won it by 11 in 2022.
With Donald Trump’s unpopularity in the region and Darren Bailey’s lagging gubernatorial campaign at the top of the ticket, Hills admits she’s facing headwinds.
“It’s certainly a challenge, but I wouldn’t say it’s dragging me down because I always make sure that people focus on the local level where they actually live and what impacts them directly,” Hills said. “I always bring them back to where they live and how I’m fighting for them and how I’m fighting to make things more affordable where my opponent is just more of the same. Just another member of the super majority that’s gonna vote as they tell her to. [Democrats are] talking about federal issues and I’m talking about what we can actually do at the state level and to be able to help people at home.”
While Senate Republicans have throttled spending in the district in recent weeks, the caucus claims it hasn’t “pulled out” of the race, new outside ads have emerged attacking Syed for previous statements, including a comment on video calling the United States a “fascist” country.
The PAC is funded by one of Hills’ top donors and her father-in-law.
She says she wasn’t aware of the outside effort and hasn’t coordinated with the group, but supports its message.
“I’m just glad someone’s pointing out how extreme she is for the district. That’s what I’m happy about,” Hills said.
Democrats are vastly outspending Republicans in the race, with millions behind Syed, including on broadcast television in the Chicago market.
Senate Democrats did not make Syed available on Saturday. She did not respond to messages from The Illinoize.
