In second attempt to unseat Gov. JB Pritzker, Republican Darren Bailey is changing tactics

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is seeking a third term in next week's general election. If he wins, which the polling strongly suggests, he will be the first Democrat to be elected three times to the office.

Standing in his way is Republican Darren Bailey, the downstate farmer and former Illinois lawmaker who lost to Pritzker in the race for governor four years ago. Pritzker, the billionaire incumbent, spent millions during the 2022 Republican primary to boost Bailey's profile, effectively urging Republican voters to choose a candidate Pritzker could easily defeat in the general election.

In his second attempt to unseat Pritzker, Bailey has changed up his campaign strategy a bit, including moving into a Chicago apartment after calling the city a "hellhole" during the 2022 governor's race.

Bailey said that, having grown up downstate and represented a conservative district in the Illinois House and Illinois Senate before his first run for governor, "I carried a lot of that with me."

"Not realizing that, gosh, there are a lot of differences up here [in Chicago], and I probably didn't represent that the way that I should have. I unfortunately, gave J.B. Pritzker some ammunition because of that," he said.

Asked if it's a tough time to run as a Republican for statewide office during President Trump's second term, Bailey said, "it has its adversities."

"But President Trump still has time to show fruit of some of the decisions that he's made," Bailey said. "The clock's ticking."

Bailey also tried to cast doubt on Chicago's downward trends in crime, despite Chicago's homicides dropping to a 50-year-low in 2025, and being on pace for another drop in homicides this year.

"Well, I will contend and argue about the crime being down, because I think that when we take a look at the way that it's being reported, it's being reported differently," he said. "I think that there's a lot of the ways of things, homicides in particular, but when you say crime, we're talking about a whole broader issue."

What numbers does Bailey think should be used to get an accurate reflection of crime?

"Well, I think there should be a concern that whenever 911 calls are being made that we know there's a delay, that some 911 calls don't even get answered. I mean, we know that," he said.

Asked if the Trump administration's controversial immigration crackdown last year, dubbed Operation Midway Blitz, was a success or a failure, Bailey said, "I think that there were some serious problems there."

"It probably wasn't handled in the way that it should have been," he said.

Asked if he would have deployed the Illinois National Guard in Chicago as President Trump tried to do, only to be blocked by federal courts, Bailey said he only would have used the National Guard "if needed."

"I wouldn't have needed to, because state and local law enforcement would have been able to do their jobs," he said.

As for the Chicago Bears' desire to build a new stadium, Bailey said he believes the team inevitably will move to Indiana.

"I think the Bears story, unfortunately, I believe, has already ended. I think they're off to Indiana. I mean, Governor Braun has suggested that," he said.

While Pritzker has said he expects the Illinois General Assembly to put together legislation during the upcoming fall veto session to keep the Bears in Illinois, Bailey cast doubt that possibility.

"I truly believe that J.B. Pritzker's hanging on to this thread, you know, so he, you, know, just simply to get elected," he said. "To lose the Chicago Bears to Indiana, I mean, it's an absolute shame and it's a derelict of duty."

However, Bailey declined to say how much public financing he would be willing to offer the Bears to help them build a new stadium in Illinois.

"I don't know, because first and foremost, the people of Illinois need relief. The people of the Illinois need to simply say we need to throw more money at this situation is not always ...it's been the answer, and that's why we have the highest taxes in the nation," he said.

CBS News Chicago made a half dozen attempts to set up an interview with Pritzker for this story, but his media team was unable to make him available.