UPDATED: Will there be gubernatorial debates?
Governor JB Pritzker and then-Sen. Darren Bailey prepare for a televised debate at WGN-TV in Chicago in 2022. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
Four years ago, Governor JB Pritkzer and Republican opponent Darren Bailey held two televised debates in the final month of the campaign.
As fall quickly approaches, there’s no guarantee the two men will share a stage together, and it may be less likely all three candidates on the ballot share the same stage.
Sources say WGN-TV, FOX Chicago, and Chicago public television station WTTW have invited both Pritzker and Bailey to debate. We’re told the Bailey campaign has confirmed participation in the WGN and FOX debates, but views the public television event as more of a “forum” than debate. It doesn’t appear the Pritzker campaign has confirmed its participation in any of the events.
A Pritzker spokesman responded to multiple questions about debates with “more to come soon.”
UPDATE: The Pritzker campaign announced Thursday it had only accepted the WTTW debate and would decline other invitations. The Bailey campaign said it would “probably” accept the debate, though, they appear to believe the public television debate will be biased toward a Democrat. Bailey said Thursday the campaign had not accepted the WTTW debate yet.
Bailey campaign manager Jose Durbin said they’re eager to debate Pritzker.
“Darren is prepared to debate JB Pritzker anytime, anywhere in Illinois,” he said. “Heck, Darren will even debate him in Iowa or New Hampshire if it helps him finally crack 3% in his presidential primary.”
At this point, it does not appear there is any televised downstate debate in the works.
A planned September debate, hosted by the League of Women Voters and Peoria-based WEEK-TV was cancelled this week after neither Pritzker or Bailey confirmed their attendance. Independent candidate Collin Corbett had confirmed his participation, we’re told.
But that may have been the only debate Corbett would be able to participate in. Corbett’s campaign confirmed Tuesday none of the Chicago TV stations had contacted the independent about participating in a debate.
“This has become a trend: both of my opponents are refusing to participate in forums or debates with me,” Corbett said in a statement after the Peoria debate was cancelled. “You have to wonder why they are afraid? Why won’t they join me in talking about how we make life more affordable for working families and get our state growing again?”
It isn’t clear what WTTW’s metrics for an independent candidate would include.
