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Democratic incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state Sen. Darren
Bailey, R-Xenia, will take the stage at Illinois State
University in Normal in a debate sponsored by AARP of Illinois.
The debate will allow members from two crucial voting blocs to
hear from the candidates on matters important to both, including
affordable housing, health care, and education.
The hour-long debate will take place at 7 p.m., airing live on
Nexstar television stations serving Illinois.
Crime has been a hot-button issue during the campaign, with the
controversial SAFE-T Act part of the focus. The justice and
police reform legislation eliminates cash bail starting Jan. 1
in Illinois, the first state to do so.
Pritzker admits lawmakers may have to make changes to the crime
package.
“I am willing to consider tweaks to the legislation,” Pritzker
said. “The legislation is about providing tools and technology
to police, making sure we are funding them, and making sure we
keep the murderers, rapists, and domestic abusers in jail.”
Bailey says the SAFE-T Act should be scrapped altogether.
“Gov. Pritzker has created the crime that goes on in Chicago and
on our streets,” Bailey said. “Friends, on Jan. 1, the crime
that we are reading about in Chicago will open up across the
state.”
Just one day before the debate, the Pritzker campaign went on
the offensive by releasing a video of Bailey criticizing the
sponsor of the debate AARP, calling the organization selfish and
immoral.
Pritzker leads Bailey in the latest polls, but in the areas of
crime and the economy, an Emerson College poll shows Bailey with
a slight edge.
The second scheduled debate will be held on Oct. 18 in Chicago.
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