Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Republican challenger Darren Bailey engaged in a chippy first face-to-face broadcast debate Thursday night, as each man frequently interrupted the other with claims of lies, deception and hypocrisy.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, left, and his Republican challenger, state Sen. Darren Bailey, right, pause before the debate on the stage in Braden Auditorium at the campus of Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, on Oct. 6, 2022.
Illinois Gob. JB Pritzker, left, speaks as his Republican challenger state Sen. Darren Bailey, right, listens during the Illinois Governor's Debate on the stage in Braden Auditorium at the campus of Illinois State University in Normal, Ill. on Oct. 6, 2022. Bailey faced controversy over a 2017 video in which he contended the 6 million deaths of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust of World War IIwith lives lost to abortion. Bailey has said he hasn’t needed to apologize and that unnamed Jewish leaders “have told me that I’m right.” In the debate, Bailey stood by his Holocaust comparison and said “the facts are true when you compare the numbers.” But he refused to name the Jewish leader, saying, “I’m not going to put anybody on record.
Pritzker said Bailey’s comments were in line with Republicans who “have put out a lot of disinformation, a whole list of things that they say are non-detainable offenses. There’s no such thing.” He said the goal of the criminal justice reform package was “to keep murderers, rapists, domestic abusers, violent criminals in jail.”
“Well, over and over again you’ve heard Darren Bailey lie just for the last 10 minutes of this debate,” Pritzker said. “And I have to say that he’s following the footsteps of the person he begged for an endorsement from. That’s Donald Trump. The truth is that we need a governor who actually stands up for the truth.”“I think it’s pretty obvious when people across the state consider where we are at today versus when J.B. Pritzker started. There is nothing that’s any better.
On issues ranging from cutting the state budget to increased gun control measures, Bailey maintained a similar answer: “We have everything we need within our laws and our agencies” in decrying further lawmaking. He said he would reprioritize spending in the state budget but did not offer specifics.