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Bailey will challenge five-term incumbent GOP U.S. Rep. Mike
Bost, who represents 34 Southern Illinois counties in the 12th
Congressional District.
“Let us declare with a resounding voice that we will not allow
our freedoms to be trampled on, we will not be silenced, we will
not surrender,” Bailey said on Independence Day in front of
supporters at his farm in Xenia. “Together, we will take back
our country.”
Bailey said his top priorities if elected are to fight for
Southern Illinois and against the "woke agenda" pushed by
radical Democrats, to revive the economy through domestic
production and promotion of American innovation, to secure the
border and fight crime by empowering law enforcement and giving
them the tools they need to keep communities safe.
Bailey is a Clay County farmer whose run for governor was
endorsed by former President Donald Trump, and Bost is a
five-term congressman who was also endorsed by Trump.
This is the first real contest for Bost, who was first elected
to Congress in 2015, but hasn’t been challenged in a primary
since 2018.
In a statement Tuesday, Bost’s campaign manager said it was a
shame that Bailey would make a run and “divide conservatives at
a time when it’s critical that we be united against Joe Biden
and the extreme liberals in Congress.”
Illinois’ general primary election is scheduled for Tuesday,
March 19, 2024.
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