Illinois Republicans chose conservative state Sen. Darren Bailey as their gubernatorial nominee in Tuesday’s primary to take on Democrat billionaire Gov. J.B. Pritzker in November. With 45 percent of the votes counted, Bailey leads his four rivals with a strong, 55.5 percent of the vote.

Big night and win for @DarrenBaileyIL!

Illinoisans are ready for a new direction and leadership that restores integrity and responsibility to the governor’s office. pic.twitter.com/GjoS5mjuvg

— GOP (@GOP) June 29, 2022

Meanwhile, Pritzker cruised to victory in the Democratic primary, earning a whopping 92.3 percent of the vote, as of this writing. He used a tactic familiar to those of us in California—candidates spend heavily to promote their preferred opponent because they believe they can easily defeat them in the general election. Pritzker reportedly “spent millions trying to get the rival he want[ed] and increase[d] his already sizable advantage in the state this fall.”

Bailey, a farmer from Xenia, received former President Donald Trump’s endorsement and is strongly pro-life, a position which Pritzker believes he can use against Bailey:

Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune who is seeking his second term, and the Democratic Governors Association spent heavily on advertising to help Bailey win the GOP primary, including with ads noting he is “100% pro-life.”

Bailey, though, intends to fight:

“We’re going to send a message to the Republican establishment that we will not be bullied into sacrificing our principles to elect their candidates,” he told a crowd at a campaign stop in rural Illinois this month.

Bailey was also a strong opponent of Pritzker’s harsh pandemic response. He sued Pritzker over a stay-at-home order and was once escorted off the floor of the Legislature for refusing to wear a mask.

Pritzker appears to be facing an easy ride in his bid to serve a second term as Illinois governor, despite his radical policies.

“I’ll face anybody on the other side of the aisle and we’ll win,” he said. Like leftist Governor Gavin Newsom in California (who handily won his June 8 open primary), Pritzker enjoys a state where Dems control all statewide offices, so his chances are good.

Also running for the Republican nomination was Richard Irvin, a former prosecutor, who was seen as a top candidate until he ran into Pritzker’s war machine. Other Republican candidates were business owner Gary Rabine, venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf and attorney Max Solomon.

Pritzker faced little-known Democrat rival Beverly Miles for the nomination.

Pritzker’s family has been criticized for pushing Synthetic Sex Identities (SSI). An article in Tablet claims:

Through investments in the techno-medical complex, where new highly medicalized sex identities are being conjured, Pritzkers and other elite donors are attempting to normalize the idea that human reproductive sex exists on a spectrum.

Pritzker’s cousin Jennifer (born James) Pritzker transitioned from male to female in 2013.

Bailey faces a tough hill to climb in going up against Pritzker and his billionaire family, but he’s now passed the first test and will next face voters in November general election.