Republican candidate for Illinois Governor Darren Bailey made a stop in Galesburg Tuesday morning as part of his “Take Back Illinois” tour.
Bailey visited Tres Cafe on Lincoln Street, along with his running mate Aaron Del Mar, who serves as Cook County Republican Party chair. Bailey said he was encouraged to run by conservatives who said they needed his “grassroots movement.”
Bailey and Del Mar both have histories of working their way up in politics. Bailey started as a school board member before running for state representative and then state senate.
“When people want to run for office and want to be top-down and don’t know who they are, and they roll in with their money and say I want to be governor it doesn’t work very well, does it? We need people with servant hearts,” Bailey said.
Bailey told diners that “everyone in the state is financially oppressed” or “knows someone who has left the state,” citing high property taxes and surging utility bills as key concerns.
Bailey faces competition in the March 17 Republican primary from developer Rick Heidner, Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski, and DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick.
