Darren Bailey

Darren Bailey is a third-generation farmer from Xenia in southern Illinois; he lives on his family farm near Louisville and operates Bailey Family Farm with his sons. He served 17 years on the North Clay Board of Education, including 12 as its president. He was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 2018 and later served in the Illinois Senate, where he was the lead Republican on the Agriculture Committee. In 2022 he won the Republican nomination for governor with 57 percent of the primary vote and lost the general election to Governor JB Pritzker, 55 percent to 42 percent. In 2024 he lost a Republican primary challenge to U.S. Representative Mike Bost in the 12th Congressional District. He announced a second run for governor in September 2025 with Aaron Del Mar as his running mate. In the March 17, 2026 Republican primary he defeated Ted Dabrowski, James Mendrick and Rick Heidner, and he faces Pritzker, who had no primary opposition, on November 3, 2026.