South Cook News

Gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) recently headlined a Southland Black Business PAC event in Alsip and told the crowd of more than 300 people that the key to changing Illinois is to rally around common goals of safer streets, better schools, lower energy prices, and job creation. 

Bailey accused Gov. J.B. Pritzker of diverting voters' attention from what he said Illinoisans really need. 

“What my opponent is trying to do is divide us because he knows that if we are focused on fighting each other, we are not paying attention to what is going on in our state," Bailey said. "The truth is we have more in common than we realize. I am a farmer from rural Clay County, but I can tell you in traveling this state, I know firsthand that there is more that unites us than divides us. We all want safe neighborhoods. We want to be able to afford to put gas in our cars. We don’t want to have to take out a second mortgage just to heat our homes in the winter and cool them in the summer. We want good schools for kids. And we want accountability in government. We pay some of the highest taxes in the nation and what are we getting for our money? Our state agencies are being run into the ground. I hear all of the time from people who are dissatisfied with the time it takes to get answers to basic questions. We deserve better. As governor, I am going to make sure you the people finally have a seat at the table. I am going to be a governor for the whole state and focus on uniting our state instead of engaging in the politics of personal destruction that is the calling card of my opponent.”

According to his campaign website, Bailey is a native of Louisville, and a third-generation farmer who now owns the Bailey Family Farm, the place where he grew up. His sons co-own and operate it, and they cultivate maize, wheat, and soybeans. Bailey and his wife of 35 years, Cindy, live on the farm in Southern Illinois. After being chosen to serve in the state legislature in 2018, he spearheaded the opposition to Pritzker's mandates and lockdowns that Bailey says had a negative impact on the state's economy and educational opportunities for kids in 2020. 

Businesses such as Boeing and Citadel Securities have recently closed down their headquarters in the state amid high crime rates. 

“The firms are having difficulty recruiting top talent from across the world to Chicago, given the rising and senseless violence in the city,” Zia Ahmed, a Citadel spokesman, told the New York Times, Chicago City Wire reported. “Talent wants to live in cities where they feel safe.”

Bailey said that south Cook County’s property tax rates have made the effective tax rate on some homes in the area nearly 60%. 

“How many more tax increases can working families in Cook County afford? These families deserve a governor who will stand up to the Cook County political machine and fight for them,” Bailey said. “A Bailey administration will stand up for working families and put an end to the corruption and the out-of-control taxes that have plagued Cook County and all of Illinois for decades.” 

The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 8.