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Conservative policy leader Dabrowski announces Illinois governor run with $1.2M raised

by Ben Szalinski
Capitol News Illinois

With strong early financial support, Ted Dabrowski announced his bid for Illinois governor in the 2026 Republican primary. His campaign focuses on conservative reform and moral clarity, setting him up as the GOP fundraising frontrunner.

SPRINGFIELD - Ted Dabrowski, the leader of a conservative research publication, officially announced Friday he will run for Illinois governor in the 2026 Republican primary.

Dabrowski’s Wirepoints.org publishes research and commentary on state policy issues and advocates for conservative solutions on pensions, taxes, governance and other public policy issues. Before joining Wirepoints in 2017, Dabrowski was vice president of policy for the conservative Illinois Policy Institute think tank after spending nearly 20 years in banking.

“I am not from the political system,” Dabrowski said from his Wilmette home. “I know the system; I know the players. I know how the sausage is made and why it tastes so bad. And I know that if we don't revitalize the Republican Party with strong executive leadership, we cannot resuscitate the state of Illinois.”

Ted Dabrowski for governor in Illinois — Ted Dabrowski talks to fellow Republicans at a State Central Committee meeting in Springfield on Aug. 14, 2025.

Though Dabrowski has built his reputation in Illinois politics by leaning into analytical, data-driven arguments, he signaled that his message on the campaign trail might be different.

“We will win this race by laying out a competing vision for Illinois, one rooted in conservative reform principles,” Dabrowski said. “And as much as I like charts and graphs, the main feature of my candidacy will be the moral clarity on those matters which impact the quality of life for productive Illinoisians who play by the rules.”

Dabrowski announced that his running mate will be Carrie Mendoza, an emergency room doctor from the Chicago area. She previously held a director position at the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, a group that has opposed lessons on gender in schools. Dabrowski did not take questions from reporters following his announcement.

Fundraising leader

Dabrowski enters the race as the immediate leader in fundraising after first saying last month that he planned to run for governor. Dabrowski has raised $1.2 million, including from his own seed money, in contributions of $1,000 or more.

State Board of Election records show Dabrowski loaned $250,000 to his campaign at the end of August — a move that eliminated fundraising restrictions for all candidates in the race.

Other contributions reported to the State Board of Elections over the last month show he has received several other large contributions of $100,000 or more from various people in finance and philanthropy in the Chicago area.

two candidates in the race have also not reported substantial fundraising.

The stiffest competition for Dabrowski and other Republican candidates for governor — former state Sen. Darren Bailey — is likely to officially enter the race in the coming days. Bailey was the party’s 2022 nominee for governor, and sources confirmed he’s planning a second run to try to beat Gov. JB Pritzker. He received 57% of the vote in the 2022 primary.

It’s still unclear who Bailey’s financial backers will be as he has not been actively fundraising for state office. He had just $2,800 in his campaign fund as of June 30. Lake Forest billionaire Dick Uihlein was his primary funding source in 2022.

“I'm very aware of the skepticism about the Republican Party's prospects and Illinois' future, but we have a strong team, and we are and will be well-funded,” Dabrowski said. “Illinoisans have Pritzker fatigue, and they're looking for a credible alternative.”

The other two candidates in the race have also not reported substantial fundraising. DuPage County Sheriff Jim Mendrick’s financial records show he had $100,588 on hand at the end of June and has reported $11,000 in contributions of $1,000 or more since then. Joe Severino, a Lake Forest resident who is also running for governor, has not reported any contributions to the State Board of Elections.

One of Dabrowski’s earliest supporters is Sen. Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, who is chair of his campaign.

“He has spent 15 years researching, digging and offering solutions, highlighting the failings,” Plummer said “A lot of people in the state may not know the name Ted Dabrowski yet, but I assure you they know his work. He has shed light on so many of our problems.”

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

If first you don't succeed ... Darren Bailey plans second run for Illinois governor in 2026

by Ben Szalinski
Capitol News Illinois

Bailey, who lost to JB Pritzker in 2022, re-enters the governor’s race with new campaign strategy.

SPRINGFIELD - Darren Bailey plans to run for governor for a second time in 2026, Capitol News Illinois confirmed with sources close to the campaign.

The former state senator and farmer from Clay County would become the highest-profile Republican to enter the race, having lost the 2022 campaign against Gov. JB Pritzker and a close primary race in 2024 against U.S. Rep. Mike Bost for a downstate congressional seat.

Darren Bailey speaks at press conference during his first campaign — State Sen. Darren Bailey appears at a news conference alongside law enforcement officers during his 2022 campaign for governor. Bailey plans a second run for Illinois governor in 2026 with Aaron Del Mar as his running mate.

A formal announcement is expected next week. News of the planned announcement was first reported by NBC Chicago on Monday afternoon.

Bailey rose to statewide notoriety in 2020 as a state lawmaker who opposed mask mandates and other COVID-19 emergency actions early in the pandemic. He capitalized on his opposition to Pritzker-imposed restrictions and ran for governor in 2022.

Bailey plans to enlist Cook County Republican Party Chair Aaron Del Mar as his running mate

Bailey easily won the Republican primary that year with 57 percent of the vote. His campaign was indirectly helped by Pritzker, who ran TV ads during the primary calling Bailey “too conservative” for Illinois, which helped boost his credentials with Republican voters.

But Pritzker handily won a second term with 55 percent of the vote, defeating Bailey by 13 points in a race the Associated Press called just moments after polls closed. Pritzker spent millions on his campaign as Bailey struggled to compete despite receiving financial help from Lake Forest billionaire Dick Uihlein.

Bailey then tried to unseat Bost in 2024 in the 12th Congressional District but came up about 2,700 votes short. While he received President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the governor’s race, Trump endorsed Bost over Bailey in 2024.

New running mate

Bailey plans to enlist Cook County Republican Party Chair Aaron Del Mar as his running mate, a source said.

Del Mar ran for lieutenant governor in 2022 alongside Gary Rabine, receiving 6.5 percent of the vote.

He was elected to lead the Cook County Republican Party earlier this year, marking the second time he has held that role after previously leading the party in the early 2010s. He is also a member of the Illinois GOP’s State Central Committee and serves as Palatine Township’s highway commissioner.

Outside of politics, Del Mar has led a career in business and as an entrepreneur.

Bailey ran in 2022 with Stephanie Trussell, a conservative radio host from the suburbs.

Bailey’s message

It is unclear how Bailey plans to overcome his 2022 loss and what message he will take to voters in 2026.

He focused much of his 2022 campaign on crime and public safety, criticizing the SAFE-T Act and bashing Chicago as a “hellhole.”

The message failed to gain traction with voters, however, as Democrats focused heavily on abortion rights in the months after Roe v. Wade was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Facebook has been Bailey’s primary communication platform to voters, and in recent weeks, he has focused many of his posts on Pritzker and ways he believes the governor has failed Illinois. Like other Republicans, Bailey has criticized Pritzker’s growing national profile.

“In 2026, we have the chance to stop him,” Bailey wrote in a post Monday. “But it will take ALL of us. Every Illinoisan who knows we deserve better. Together, we can end JB’s presidential ambitions before they even begin and finally turn Illinois around.”

Darren Bailey at the 2023 Illinois State Fair — Former state senator and unsuccessful candidate for governor and later Congress Darren Bailey is pictured at the 2023 Illinois State Fair during his unsuccessful congressional campaign.

Bailey would become at least the fourth candidate to enter the Republican primary for governor, which has been slowly taking shape this fall.

DuPage County Sheriff Jim Mendrick, Lake Forest resident Joe Severino, and conservative media writer Ted Dabrowski have also formed committees to run for governor.

Antioch Mayor Scott Gartner released a statement Sunday saying he was also considering running.

Pritzker is running for a rare third term as governor amid speculation he will also run for president in 2028.

Candidates must turn their petitions in to the State Board of Elections by the end of October.

Darren Bailey is back, Illinois gubernatorial candidate launches second campaign bid

Darren Bailey kicks off his second gubernatorial campaign with a renewed focus on Chicago and its suburbs.

by Ben Szalinski
Capitol News Illinois

BLOOMINGTON - Darren Bailey’s second campaign for governor will take a different approach to Chicago and its suburbs following his unsuccessful 2022 bid, the downstate farmer and former Republican state lawmaker told supporters Thursday.

“This journey is going to look different than it did four years ago,” Bailey said at the second leg of a three-stop campaign kickoff tour in Bloomington. “We're out to win. We're on a mission.”

Bailey began the campaign in downstate Carterville before taking a helicopter owned and piloted by his son to Bloomington, then departing for his opening rally in Oak Brook later in the evening.

Illinois governor candidate Darren Bailey — Former Republican State Sen. Darren Bailey speaks to supporters at a rally in Bloomington to open his 2026 campaign for governor on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. Bailey named Cook County Republican Party Chair Aaron Del Mar as his running mate.

Bailey, who called Chicago a “hellhole” four years ago, is emphasizing that his campaign will focus more on the city and its suburbs than in 2022. He chose Cook County Republican Party Chair Aaron Del Mar as his running mate, and his campaign logo now includes the skyline of Chicago. Bailey told reporters he believes voters in the Chicago area are more dissatisfied with Gov. JB Pritzker than in 2022.

“The people in Cook County, in Chicago are affected much more, I believe, than they were, you know, four years ago,” Bailey told reporters. “So staying on, you know, the message is really pretty simple and pretty obvious. I mean, taxes are too high. Opportunity doesn't exist. Our children are moving out of the state, and people just simply can't afford to be able to live and work here.”

Bailey argued he and Del Mar can relate more to an average person’s economic struggles than Pritzker — their billionaire opponent if they win the March 17 primary. They said affordability will be their top issue. Bailey pointed to a poll last month by a conservative policy organization that showed Pritzker’s approval rating below 50% for the first time. He said he believes there’s growing momentum for a Republican candidate, despite Pritzker winning the past two elections by double digits.

“The climate here in Illinois is a lot more obvious and conducive than it was three and four years ago,” he said. “People have woke up and they've realized that, ‘wow, why did we just go through these last three years?’ And that they're tired of it.”

Bailey owns and operates a more than 12,000-acre farm in Clay County south of Effingham.

After losing to Pritzker, Bailey lost a congressional primary in 2024. Democrats didn’t show any disappointment in seeing him on the ticket again. Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association President Mark Guethle said in a statement Bailey’s decision to run again is “fine by us!”

A new running mate

Bailey said he had not been planning to run for governor until a few weeks ago. Friends encouraged him to consider picking Del Mar as his running mate, he said, despite the pair’s history of disagreements. They met earlier this month to iron out their differences.

“We put it aside; we let the bygones be bygones,” Del Mar said. “And we came out and we said we're going to run together as a team. We're going to bring everybody from the southern area, from the country. We're going to bring everybody from the north.”

Del Mar has long been active in suburban Republican politics and was McHenry County businessman Gary Rabine’s running mate in the 2022 GOP primary for governor. He told Bailey’s supporters on Thursday that he had been planning to run for governor himself. Bailey’s 2022 running mate was Stephanie Trussell, a DuPage County resident and conservative radio host.

Who is Darren Bailey

Bailey owns and operates a more than 12,000-acre farm in Clay County south of Effingham. He’s made the farmer lifestyle a pillar of his statewide campaigns as he often discusses learning the values of hard work and family from the farm. In 2022, Bailey ran a TV ad about building his business by working with his hands. It drew a contrast to Pritzker who inherited wealth, though Pritzker also had a long philanthropic and business career before becoming governor.

He was first elected to the Illinois House in 2018, but his political profile exploded in 2020 after he filed lawsuits challenging Illinois’ stay-at-home and mask orders in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lawsuits helped lionize Bailey among Illinois conservatives who believed the public health restrictions were illegal for the governor to impose.

Bailey won a race for Illinois Senate in 2020 and then launched his 2022 campaign for governor hoping to capitalize on his growing reputation as the most vocal opponent to pandemic mitigations in the legislature.

Bailey’s past results

Bailey cruised to victory in the 2022 Republican primary with 57% of the vote in a field of six candidates. He trounced the favored candidate of establishment Republicans, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, who also had a fundraising advantage over Bailey.

But Irvin struggled to articulate his positions on issues while Bailey appealed to conservative voters. Some of that appeal came with the help of Pritzker’s campaign, who, along with the Democratic Governors Association, ran TV ads attacking Bailey during the primary as “too conservative” for Illinois.

The ads boosted Bailey’s conservative credentials in the partisan contest, helping Bailey win 100 of 102 counties. He struggled to gain traction in the general election against Pritzker, though. Bailey's tough-on-crime message failed to land with voters and Pritzker cruised to a 13-point victory that was called within minutes of the polls closing. Bailey won 42% of the vote, including just 24% of Cook County voters.

Bailey came back to the campaign trail in 2024 and billed himself as a more conservative alternative to Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost in the 12th Congressional District across southern Illinois. Bost was an ally of President Donald Trump, who endorsed Bost over Bailey, despite endorsing Bailey’s candidacy for governor. Bailey came up about 2,700 votes short.

Bailey told reporters on Thursday he has not spoken with Trump but would consider seeking his endorsement. Bailey joins the Republican primary field of DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick, conservative researcher Ted Dabrowski and Lake Forest businessman Joe Severino.