Darren Bailey proclaims bid for downstate congressional seat held by Trump-backed Republican

Darren Bailey, the conservative former Illinois state senator who was badly defeated in his problem to incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker final November, is operating for Congress, he introduced Tuesday.

Bailey will problem five-term incumbent GOP Rep. Mike Bost, who represents the twelfth District. Each Bost and Bailey had been backed by former President Donald Trump of their respective races final 12 months, with Trump internet hosting a rally for Bailey simply earlier than the first.

Trump carried the twelfth District in 2020 with 56% of the vote. 

After being launched by his spouse, Bailey took the stage to “Arduous Workin’ Man” by Brooks & Dunn and addressed a crowd of about 250 at his household farm in downstate Xenia.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Solar-Instances

“Our nation is at a crossroads,” Bailey stated, asserting his run to signify the sprawling district that features Carbondale, Marion and East St. Louis. “We discover ourselves engulfed in a storm of woke nonsense.”

“We should battle again and reject the weak-kneed politicians who refuse to face up and battle. … It’s time to revive frequent sense to our governance.”

After final 12 months’s July Fourth mass capturing in Highland Park, Bailey instructed residents to “transfer on” as police led a manhunt for the gunman. He later apologized in a Fb video to his 111,000-plus followers.

“The shooter remains to be at giant, so let’s pray for justice to prevail, after which let’s transfer on and let’s have fun — have fun the independence of this nation.” Bailey says within the video.

As Bailey introduced his marketing campaign, Highland Park held a day of remembrance for the victims of the capturing.

The Louisville, Illinois, native additionally briefly lived in an house within the former John Hancock Heart throughout final 12 months’s governor’s race, throughout which he referred to Chicago as a “hellhole,” an “unruly little one” and “the OK Corral.”

Bailey received the GOP gubernatorial nomination in a landslide however misplaced badly to incumbent Pritzker.

Bailey has continued to again Donald Trump by means of his latest authorized troubles.

“It’s an honor to face with this man,” Bailey wrote on Fb above a photograph of the 2 Republicans giving the thumbs-up signal at Trump’s nation membership in Bedminster, N.J., shortly after the previous president pleaded not responsible to 37 federal expenses of mishandling categorised paperwork.

In a press release Tuesday, Bost’s marketing campaign supervisor, Myles Nelson, stated it was a “disgrace” that Bailey would make a run and “divide conservatives.”

“Bailey is placing egocentric opportunism and private ambition forward of the pursuits of Southern Illinois conservatives,” Nelson wrote. “Republican main voters received’t overlook that.”

Bost, a Marine Corp veteran who has represented the 34 southern Illinois counties since 2015, is the chair of the Veterans’ Affairs committee and can also be on the Transportation and Infrastructure and Agriculture committees.

He received his final race with 75% of the vote towards Democratic challenger Homer Markel, a bounce from the 60% share of votes he obtained within the 2020 election. He hasn’t confronted a main opponent since 2018.

Contributing: Tina Sfondeles