Candidates who challenged Pritzker’s COVID-19 orders leading in pre-election polls
 

[June 28, 2022]  By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Two men who challenged Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 executive orders are leading in their bids for the GOP nomination to statewide office, the most recent Ogden & Fry poll of likely Republican voters shows.

State Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, and attorney Thomas DeVore are also addressing whether they stand a chance come November, were they to secure Tuesday’s primary election.

The Ogden & Fry poll released Saturday gives final predictions. Bailey leads the slate of six GOP gubernatorial contenders by a large margin.

With around 20% undecided, Bailey (37.6%) leads Jesse Sullivan (17.2%) by around 20 points.

One of the criticisms Bailey receives is he doesn’t have statewide appeal. Just before getting the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, Bailey said he’s got what it takes.

“We’re putting the work in,” Bailey told The Center Square. “Our friends in Cook County and Chicago, we’re getting to know them and they’re seeing something they like so by November all of Illinois is going to realize that we need something better because what we have now is running our friends, our family, out of state.”

One factor that could impact Tuesday evening’s outcome is the undecided voters.
 

“That’s who we reach,” Bailey said. “We’ve been out and about. We have outworked all of the campaigns combined.

The Ogden & Fry Poll shows that if voters had to make a choice on the day it was given, Bailey’s lead (44.8%) increases over Sullivan (21.4%) by more than 23 points.

The other four candidates in Tuesday’s election for the GOP gubernatorial nomination are Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin (17.1%), businessman Gary Rabine (10.7%), former state Sen. Paul Schimpf (4.9%) and attorney Max Solomon (1.1%).

As a state representative, Bailey sued Pritzker in the summer of 2020 over back-to-back executive COVID-19 executive orders. Representing him in the courts was DeVore, a downstate attorney.

DeVore is a candidate in a three-way race for the GOP nomination to take on Democratic Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

DeVore leads Steve Kim in pre-election polling of likely Republican voters by just around 4%. He said a few years ago, people in the collar counties around Chicago wouldn't be supportive of a downstate conservative, but that has changed.

“For the last two years people have been treated horrifically and they’re tired of it,” DeVore told The Center Square. “And I think that is much more persuasive to them than a Democrat or Republican message.”

Aside from representing Bailey against executive orders, DeVore made headlines over the past two years for representing students, their parents, and school teachers and staff opposing exclusion policies and mask and vaccine mandates. He said he’s confident his message is getting across to undecided voters, which Ogden & Fry indicates is about 1 out of every 3.

“The people have to take charge and they have to be in control of their government and not having one man or one woman running the show and I think that message is very effective,” DeVore said.

The Ogden & Fry Poll shows that if voters had to make a choice for the Republican attorney general candidates, DeVore gets 42.4%, Kim gets 38.6% and Dave Shestokas gets around 19%.

Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and other issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of award-winning broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning Newsfeed out of Springfield.