The race behind the endorsement
JB Pritzker defeated Darren Bailey in the 2022 Illinois governor’s race, winning 54.91% of the vote to Bailey’s 42.37% and carrying Cook County and five of the six suburban collar counties, according to the 2022 election results. Democrats also finished that election with a 78-40 majority in the state House.
Bailey won the 2026 Republican gubernatorial nomination with about 50% in a four-way primary, compared with his 57% share in the 2022 primary, WGLT reported. He also lost a 2024 congressional primary to Rep. Mike Bost, 51.4% to 48.6%, after former President Donald Trump backed Bost, according to The Associated Press. Bailey has received Trump’s endorsement for the 2026 governor’s race.
Bailey has pledged to seek repeal of the SAFE-T Act on his first day in office. Hoodline previously reported that Chicago crime figures through Sept. 20 showed a 49% decline in homicides and shootings over the preceding four years.
Durkin’s reasons for backing Pritzker
Former Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin says he will vote for Pritzker, a Democrat seeking a third term, while continuing to identify as a Republican. The Chicago Tribune reported that Pritzker’s campaign planned to release an endorsement video on Monday. Its account of the endorsement and Durkin’s comments is the source for the exchanges summarized here.
Durkin cited Pritzker’s work with him on infrastructure, improvements to the state’s finances and support for gun measures. In June 2019, Pritzker signed the $45 billion Rebuild Illinois capital plan, which Durkin helped negotiate and pass as House Minority Leader. Separately, S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s upgraded Illinois’ general-obligation bond rating in September; those were the state’s 12th rating upgrades since Pritzker took office in 2019 and brought its rating to its highest level in nearly 15 years, according to Capitol City Now. Illinois had faced nearly two dozen consecutive downgrades and had hovered near junk status before Pritzker took office.
The Tribune reported that Durkin faults Bailey’s relationship with Trump and his positions on abortion and gay rights for hurting Republican appeal in the suburbs. Durkin also argues that Bailey has not changed since losing to Pritzker in 2022, and blames Trump and Trump-style populism for the weakening of moderate Republicans in Illinois. These are Durkin’s assessments as reported by the Tribune, not independently established findings.
Durkin’s political background and the response
Durkin represented Chicago’s western suburbs in the Illinois House for 24 years, including nine years as Republican leader, before leaving the legislature in January 2023. The Capitol News Illinois account covered his planned departure; the Tribune also reported on his legislative tenure. Durkin was the 2002 Republican nominee for U.S. Senate against Dick Durbin, served as the top Republican on the House committee investigating Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment, and chaired John McCain’s Illinois presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2008, according to City Club Chicago. He also had years of legislative disputes with former House Speaker Michael Madigan, now in federal prison.
Bailey running mate Aaron Del Mar criticized Durkin’s standing in the Republican Party and said he should not take part in party politics, the Tribune reported. Del Mar is Palatine Township road supervisor and has proposed an Illinois spending audit modeled on DOGE. At an August rally in Springfield, he also described abortion as a sin against God, a remark Hoodline reported amid the ticket’s stated focus on affordability over social issues.
Durkin has pointed to other Republicans who supported Democratic candidates, including strategist Karl Rove’s backing of a Democrat in a Texas statewide race and Cindy McCain’s support for Joe Biden in 2020. He says he wants Illinois to have a competitive two-party system and plans to vote for Pritzker in November. The election is scheduled for Nov. 3.
