Election Eve in Illinois: Pritzker Rallies in Cicero and Predicts a Democratic Senate, While Bailey Plans a Final Day in Chicago
The governor spent the last weekend on national television and on a Cicero stage with the Democratic ticket. His Republican challenger spent Sunday at his farm — and plans to spend Monday in Chicago.
Illinois' governor's race entered its final 48 hours with the two campaigns in very different places. Gov. JB Pritzker spent Sunday morning on NBC's "Meet the Press" and Sunday afternoon in Cicero, appearing with other members of the Democratic ticket at an event that coincided with a Día de los Muertos community celebration. Republican Darren Bailey, the downstate farmer and former lawmaker Pritzker beat by about 13 points four years ago, spent Sunday at his farm near Xenia.
On "Meet the Press," Pritzker looked past Tuesday's rematch and did nothing to dispel talk of a 2028 presidential bid. "Because that (2028) election is so important, I'm going to work my tail off to make sure that we have a Democrat who will win and make sure that that Democrat does in fact win," he said. He predicted Democrats would take both the U.S. House and the Senate, and pointed to early turnout: "The energy on the ground, not just in Illinois but across the country, is very high. We're seeing an overperformance of Latino voters, overperformance of young voters, of Black voters."
In Cicero, Pritzker contended that Democrats do not need to hold Michigan's Senate seat — thrown into turmoil Sunday when U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed the Republican in that race — to win the Senate. "There are so many options. If you look at all of the races that are close, Democrats are ahead in almost all of the close races," he said. Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, the Democratic nominee for retiring Sen. Dick Durbin's seat, reacted angrily in Chicago, calling Stevens' endorsement a "betrayal."
The top of the Republican ticket, by contrast, was largely out of public view on the final weekend. Bailey met supporters and attended a worship service in Chicago on Saturday, campaign spokesman Travis Akin said; on Sunday he did phone interviews and held last-minute talks with donors from his farm, and he planned to return to Chicago for a final full day of campaigning on Monday. Senate candidate Don Tracy did no public campaigning all weekend, his spokeswoman said, with ads running and campaigning planned for Monday and Tuesday. Polls open Tuesday at 6 a.m.
