Woman’s hospitalization following Bailey campaign launch stirs questions within GOP

As the GOP gubernatorial primary fight intensifies, front-runner Darren Bailey’s campaign faces scrutiny in some Republican circles over its response to an incident where a woman was hospitalized and filed a police report after attending his launch event.

The former state senator won a surprise victory in the June 2022 GOP primary over establishment candidate Richard Irvin but lost to Gov. JB Pritzker in the general election.

This cycle, Bailey is battling fellow conservatives Ted Dabrowski, Rick Heidner and James Mendrick in a relatively cordial primary race that’s focused on attacking Pritzker.

Bailey launched his campaign before a pumped-up crowd Sept. 25 at the Drake Hotel in Oak Brook. The woman dined at the hotel with Bailey associates, then accompanied a group of them to an after-party at a Chicago bar, according to a report she filed with Oak Brook police Oct. 9.

Bailey did not attend the after-party.

On the way back to the hotel, “my world started spinning,” the woman told the Daily Herald, adding she experienced dizziness, tunnel vision, and lost consciousness.

Hotel staff called authorities around 3 a.m. Sept. 26 to assist with a woman described as stumbling and intoxicated in the lobby. Paramedics took her to Elmhurst Hospital for treatment, the report states.

The woman informed police she believed she had been drugged, and told the Daily Herald she suspects something was put in her drink.

Oak Brook police filed the report as informational and did not investigate the allegations. They advised the woman to contact the Chicago Police Department if she wanted to pursue anything further, a spokesperson said.

The Bailey campaign on Wednesday called the accusations “false, baseless, and reckless.”

“The event was not campaign-sponsored, and the police report makes clear that no one associated with our campaign was accused of any wrongdoing,” a statement from the campaign reads.

“This is a desperate, politically motivated smear designed to manufacture headlines,” they added. “We won’t be distracted. Our focus remains on lowering costs, restoring accountability, and getting Illinois back on track.”

A police officer who responded to the hotel said a man in the lobby told him the incident was related to a political event and he “did not want it getting out there,” according to the report.

The woman also alleged that unnamed individuals offered to pay for her medical bills from campaign funds.

Copies of the report and purported body camera footage have circulated online and generated undercurrents among some GOP stakeholders.

Aurora Township Republicans Chair Danny Souri questioned Bailey about the incident at an event in January. The campaign needs to clear the air now to avoid Democrats weaponizing it in the general election, Souri believes.

“At the end of the day, the whole point of the primary is to build the best damn team to be able to have a shot to beat Pritzker,” he said.

Souri brought his concerns to the Illinois Republican State Central Committee, which did not have an official comment on the controversy.

He said his outspokenness on the matter has resulted in pushback from the Bailey campaign.

Two January polls show Bailey with double-digit leads over his opponents, although one survey showed 46% of likely voters were undecided.

“I think Darren Bailey is the front-runner because of name ID and where the Republican Party stands today ideologically,” former Republican gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Kirk Dillard said.

The woman told the Daily Herald she’s experienced both support and criticism from local Republicans after filing the report.

“I would like the truth,” she said.