Pritzker Smashes Bailey, Wins Unprecedented Third Democratic Term
Gov. JB Pritzker delivers his victory speech Tuesday night at Navy Pier. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
Governor JB became the first Democrat in Illinois history to win a third term as the state’s chief executive, pounding Republican former state senator Darren Bailey in a rematch from a race four years ago.
As of around 1:30 a.m., Pritzker led Bailey with around 2.3 million votes to around 1.4 million votes for Bailey, a difference of around 60%-37%. Independent Collin Corbett had around 3% of the vote.
If Pritzker’s 23-point lead holds up, it would be the largest margin in a gubernatorial race in Illinois since the late Gov. Jim Edgar’s 29-point victory over then-State Comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch in 1994.
“To every volunteer, every precinct captain, and phone banker and canvasser, you’ve vanquished the MAGA Illinois GOP and rebuilt the Democratic Party of Illinois,” Pritzker said. “My heart is full tonight with the kind of emotion we Midwestern Dads too often keep to ourselves.”
Pritzker’s big victory will only ramp up national speculation into his presidential ambitions and potential 2028 campaign. Pritzker briefly, and vaguely, addressed the rumors.
“There is one question I have gotten a lot in the last few months: ‘what’s next?’ I’m going to ask you to continue to hope and to wrap your hope in courage. We climbed one mountain tonight. But we are sitting at the base of another,” he said.
Bailey, meanwhile, criticized Pritzker’s record Tuesday and said the GOP couldn’t overcome a Democratic wave.
“We hit, we fought, we worked hard. You were by our side,” Bailey said. “There are no regrets... The people are speaking, We see this happening all across the nation. And what does that tell me? That tells me that we’ve got a fight ahead of us.”
