Inside the GOP Gubernatorial Mess
Then-Sen. Darren Bailey after winning the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2022. (Photo: Associated Press)
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OPINION
Here are some thoughts and observations on the budding mess in the GOP race for governor:
All signs point to Darren Bailey entering the race for governor at some point as early as next week. It’s remarkable how out of nowhere this really was.
Earlier in the year, Bailey had been connected to another run against Congressman Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) in the 12th Congressional District. That speculation fizzled months ago, though.
It really seems like it has been just the last couple of weeks before Bailey seriously considered getting into the race.
We reported Friday that Bailey and Cook County GOP Chairman Aaron Del Mar, who has been flirting with the race for months, are in talks to form a ticket.
Common sense dictates that Bailey would be the top of the ticket, but I’m hearing Del Mar is trying to convince Team Bailey that he should be the top of the ticket. I don’t think that’s in the cards for the Bailey crew.
I’m told Bailey and Del Mar are scheduled to meet later this week in the suburbs.
As for Ted Dabrowski, the former Illinois Policy Institute staffer who runs the right-leaning “Wirepoints” website, he still hasn’t formally announced his campaign, but he has created a campaign committee.
It is chaired by Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville), which surely torqued off Bailey, who hasn’t had much affection for Plummer since they both served in the Senate.
I’m hearing former gubernatorial candidate turned radio host turned political grifter Dan Proft and former Rep. Jeanne Ives are both heavy influences on Dabrowski.
There are “reports” and I use quotations because the source is not at all a credible journalistic organization that GOP megadonor Richard Uihlein is going to sit out the GOP primary. I cannot confirm that, but I can confirm Dabrowski and team (including some grifters that have bilked Uihlein for millions) haven’t been able to lock Uihlein in yet. That has been a big impediment to Dabrowski’s campaign getting off the ground.
I’m told Dabrowski has offered, or at least approached, multiple potential LG candidates yet and all have told him “no.” The most notable one, I’m told, is Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro). Bryant didn’t return a call yesterday to confirm or deny. (UPDATE: Bryant said Wednesday she had spoken with Dabrowski about running for LG, but she had not been offered the job.)
Don’t be surprised if he winds up with Ives, who almost upset Bruce Rauner in the 2018 primary or weirdo “Awake Illinois” leader Shannon Adcock as his number two.
How does DuPage County Sheriff Jim Mendrick fit into this? Well, I don’t really know. He’s sticking to his all-crime-all-the-time message (our State Fair visit is here) in a year that will absolutely be, or should be, an economy election.
I had a really fun chat about the Governor’s race with GOP strategist Collin Corbett on my radio show yesterday. You can listen to that here.
