Darren Bailey: 2026 candidate for Illinois governor

Bio

Office sought: Governor

Party: Republican

City: Chicago

Age: 60

Previous offices held: School Board Member, School Board President, State Representative, State Senator

Q&A

What do you consider the key to an effective working relationship between the governor’s office and legislative leaders? If your party is not in the majority in the legislature, how will you work to make government operate effectively? If your party is in the majority, how will you work to ensure that all interests in the state are fairly represented?

As a State Senator and State Representative, I got to know members of the other party. I worked well with Democrats while I served. Of course, we have differences, but that did not mean we couldn’t work together.

I will be a governor for the whole state. I have spent the majority of my life downstate but during this campaign, I have made Chicago my home. I have gotten to know the people in this great City. I understand their perspective and understand not only the differences in mindset but also the things that make us similar. Illinois is a big state with distinct regions. We need leaders who can connect with people from these different regions and make decisions that will benefit our state as a whole.

My opponent has had eight years to make progress in lowering property taxes, lowering energy costs and making our communities safer. Instead, his policies are increasing costs and making our communities less safe. It is time for a new approach and new and better leadership and that is what will happen on Day One of my administration.

How important is it to keep the Bears in the state of Illinois? What specifically is your “red line” beyond which the state cannot go in order to keep them here?

Keeping the Bears in Illinois is a priority that crosses party lines. The problem comes down to a lack of leadership. There is not a lot of appetite for any plan that would create an undue burden on taxpayers.

Presenting a plan that has no realistic chance of passing the Legislature is not leadership at all. I have put forth a plan to keep the Bears. I call it the I-Formation plan. The key points of the plan include:

· Private stadium financing.

· Up to $800 million for public infrastructure.

· A dedicated source for bond payments.

· Property-tax certainty with local revenue protected.

· Illinois jobs and statewide benefits.

· Taxpayer safeguards.

There is a path to keeping the Bears in Illinois, but it requires leadership — something we simply do not have right now.

The Bears situation is not the only one in Illinois in which decisions are made at the last minute by leadership behind closed doors. Budgeting is a classic, consistent example, and it seems every difficult decision facing the state is decided by the majority party leadership in the waning hours of the session. The use of shell bills enables this practice. Is this an acceptable way for the legislature to operate and what, if anything, should the governor do to address it?

I have called for an open, transparent budget process. The idea that the budget is negotiated behind closed doors with little or no input from rank-and-file members is appalling. Under a Darren Bailey/Aaron Del Mar Administration, I will invite the press into budget meetings where priorities are discussed. I want these discussions to take place at the beginning of the legislative session — not the end. In addition, the lieutenant governor will look at how money is spent, ensuring our tax dollars are used effectively. We will cut waste, eliminate fraud, and bring sunshine to the budgeting process. It is absolutely shameful that three people decide in secret how to spend $56 billion of taxpayer money. We must change how business gets done and restore confidence in state government.

To what extent are you happy or unhappy with the evidence-based model for education funding now in place in Illinois? How would you define “adequate” state funding for Illinois schools and what will you do to promote that?

Relying on property taxes as the primary funding mechanism creates an imbalance. Some schools in certain parts of the state look like college campuses, while others are old, outdated, and ill-equipped to teach students in the modern age.

My focus will be on eliminating unfunded mandates and readjusting the funding mechanisms to lower property taxes and increase state funding. Reducing taxes will, in the long run, attract employers to invest in Illinois and create more tax revenue.

Frederick Douglass Academy High School is the poster child of waste and mismanagement. Designed for 1,008 students, the school now serves just 27 while employing 28 full-time staff members, which is more employees than students. In 2024, the school spent more than $93,000 per student on operations, excluding capital costs and debt service — meaning total expenditures were even higher. Yet the latest state data showed that not a single 11th-grade student was proficient in math or reading. This kind of abuse and mismanagement of our tax dollars needs to stop.