A new poll from the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago radio station WBEZ shows southern state Sen. Darren Bailey with a 15-point lead over Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin in the race for GOP governor, a major reversal with 18 days until the polls close. Tuesday, June 28.

Irvin’s campaign had earlier in the week pulled its ad in the state and noted that it was “reassessing” its strategy down the stretch. His campaign still advertises in the Chicago area and maintains a statewide spot on Fox News Channel, according to a spokesperson.

At a press conference in Bloomington he called to discuss public safety, Irvin downplayed the poll as a “snapshot in time.”

“We have two and a half weeks left,” he said. “You know, the polls will change every day, but like I said, we’re going to keep sending our message.”

Irvin’s last message, repeated seven times during the press conference between him and running mate Avery Bourne: “A vote for Darren Bailey is a vote to re-elect JB Pritzker.”

The Sun-Times-WBEZ poll showed Bailey 32% support to 15% for Irvin among 677 likely GOP voters who were polled Monday and Tuesday by Public Policy Polling. St. Petersburg venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan was the only other candidate to reach 11%.

The poll had a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points and 27% of respondents said they were undecided. Businessman Gary Rabine voted 6%, former senator Paul Schimpf 4% and lawyer Max Solomon 2%.

Bailey, a farmer from southern Xenia State, first gained statewide notoriety by challenging the authority of Governor JB Pritzker’s executive order in court, achieving narrow victories in Clay County. before being overturned by a Sangamon County Court of Appeals.

He served one term at Illinois House in 2019 and 2020, during which his colleagues voted to remove him from the house in May 2020 for refusing to wear a mask in accordance with COVID-19 mitigation measures. The House vote was 81 to 27 in favor of withdrawing it from the rest of the day’s proceedings.

In 2020, he was elected to the deeply conservative 55th Illinois Senate District with 76% of the vote, and he was elected in 2021. He continues to serve in the district.

“Billionaire elitist JB Pritzker is a failed governor whose extreme liberal policies have failed working families and taxpayers,” Bailey’s spokesman said in a statement Friday. “Darren Bailey is a farmer and the conservative outsider we need to fight inflation, cut taxes, improve our schools, grow our economy and keep our streets safe.”

Not counting ceremonial resolutions, Bailey was the main sponsor of only two bills that managed to become law during his tenure, one doubling fines for overtaking a school bus and the other changing the requirements for becoming a firefighter. .

At a press conference called Thursday to promote legislative action to reduce the state’s fuel tax, Bailey said communication was how he would work to get things done in the General Assembly.

“So getting the message out to the people so that the people stand up and grab their representatives,” he said. “That’s how it’s supposed to work. People, we need to wake up and get our elected officials and demand that they get back to work and fix this.

Bailey has received the endorsement of major anti-abortion groups, citing only a threat to the life of the mother as what he sees as an exception in which the procedure should be allowed.

The Sun-Times-WBEZ poll showed that 57% of respondents view Bailey as very or somewhat supportive, compared to 16% unfavorably.

Irvin’s numbers showed only 35% very or somewhat favorable versus 43% unfavorable.

Irvin, at his press conference in Bloomington, pointed to the tens of millions of dollars spent on attack ads against him between the Democratic Governors Association, a pro-Bailey political action committee, and Bailey himself.

When pressed to say that a vote for Bailey is a vote for Pritzker, Irvin pointed to the expense.

“What that implies is that JB Pritzker is scared to face the Irvin-Bourne team, simple as that,” he said. “So he’s willing to back someone he feels can’t beat him in the general election. … Otherwise why would he spend tens of millions of dollars to bring me down and get him back up?

Irvin received $50 million from conservative megadonor Ken Griffin, who is the founder of the Citadel hedge fund and a former backer of one-term Republican Governor Bruce Rauner.

Bailey’s biggest financial benefactor is Richard Uihlein, who gave $9 million to the Bailey campaign while contributing $8 million to the People Who Play by the Rules PAC which funded the ad against Irvin. Uihlein backed Rauner in 2014 before backing his main Republican challenger in 2018.

Irvin’s campaign reported about $17 million in spending by the Democratic Governors Association, which received money from Pritzker, to attack Irvin’s campaign and publicize his conservative credentials. Bailey.

Asked about his plan to close the deficit in the coming days, Irvin said it was a necessary part of the campaign, saying Democrats could spend up to $30 million to influence the GOP primary by the end of the campaign. end.