BELLWOOD, Ill. — On a beautiful day in the Chicago area, both Gov. JB Pritzker and GOP challenger Darren Bailey spent it campaigning in the suburbs.
With one week before the election, Pritzker is picking a fight with Bailey over accepting the election results.
Governor Pritzker’s campaign manager sent the Bailey team a letter dated Oct. 31 pledging to accept the results of the election “win or lose.”
“Election denialism is a dark plague that threatens the very foundation of our democracy,” Mike Ollen wrote.
Bailey told WGN News he has made that commitment and pointed to speculation that Pritzker is eying a White House run in 2024.
“Well, I’ve already made that commitment but J.B. Pritzker won’t make the commitment that I asked him to make to sign a pledge that he will endure his four years if he is re-elected,” Bailey said. “Which I don’t have to worry about that.”
In the first debate between the two, Pritzker said that he intends to serve four more years as governor and get re-elected.
Bailey also criticized Pritzker for donating money to Democratic candidates for the Illinois Supreme Court — Mary Kay O’Brien and Elizabeth Rochford. The governor recently used his personal trust fund to give the candidates $500,000 each.
Pritzker, while campaigning Tuesday afternoon in Bellwood, defended the donation.
“I support Democrats running for office up and down the ballot,” Pritzker said. “I’ve been doing that most of my life and I wrote that check willing because I want to support Democrats.”
Democrats control the court four to three and there are two seats up for grabs.
