The Fox News Decision Desk projects that Democratic Governor JB Pritzker will win a second term. He prevails over GOP challenger Darren Bailey.
In Illinois, which sets no term-limits on the governor’s seat, the two battled it out during several debates and Bailey pressed Pritzker on various critical midterm issues.
During the last debate of the cycle, Bailey blamed the Democrat incumbent for the rise of violent crime in the state, specifically in one of the country’s crime hotspots, the city of Chicago.
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State Sen. Darren Bailey, right, the Republican candidate for Illinois governor, and incumbent Illinois Gob. JB Pritzker debate during the Illinois Governor’s Debate on the stage in Braden Auditorium at the campus of Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022
(Ron Johnson/Illinois State University via AP, Pool)
“I’m gonna call it ‘Pritzkerville’ because every one of Gov. Pritzker’s extreme policies are destroying the city,” Bailey said of crime-ridden Chicago.
“Out-of-control crime, devastated education, the fact that corporations are packing up and leaving every day. Pritzkerville fits nicely because Gov. Pritzker, it’s time for him to own it,” the GOP candidate said.
Pritzker attempted to dismiss his opponents’ accusation, claiming that the COVID-19 pandemic was one of the main causes of the crime surge and that he is focused on investing in the development of DNA testing and advancing criminal identification technology to tackle rising crime in the Windy City.
ILLINOIS GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE BLAMES CHICAGO CRIME ON PRITZKER IN HEATED DEBATE
“If you want to reduce crime, you got to solve crime. And all the things that we’ve invested in over the last four years have been aimed exactly at that,” the Democratic incumbent added.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
(Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Another major midterm issue that the two candidates argued about was the influx of migrants coming over the southern border that were being sent to Illinois. Over the past several months, thousands of migrants have been sent to the “sanctuary city,” but the newly re-elected governor was called out for sending buses of migrants from Chicago to the suburbs, reportedly giving the town officials barely any notice ahead of their arrival.
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At the end of the Sept. 30 quarterly reporting period, Pritzker reportedly raised about $81 million, while Bailey’s campaign reported that he raised $2 million.
Fox News’ Andrea Vacchiano contributed to this report.