This is… not huge
Wednesday, May 6, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Darren Bailey’s 2022 interview with NBC 5 Chicago…
There’s a new television campaign ad that features a woman who had an abortion and is concerned about what a Governor Bailey might do.
“I would let her know first and foremost, women are well protected in the state of Illinois, and this is not going to change,” [Bailey] said. “Nothing’s going to change anytime soon. Those aren’t issues that divide us. JB Pritzker is fear mongering over just that.”
Previously, Bailey had called for a total ban on abortion, but in recent months he has sought to soften his stance.
* WTTW in 2022…
“Gov. Pritzker’s fear-mongering message that I’m going to destroy the state and take women’s rights away, well, he of all people should know that as a governor, I can’t do that,” Bailey said. “The General Assembly…would have to bring bills to the table. And I think everyone would agree, No. 1, nothing’s going to change. Women are well-protected in Illinois.”
* CBS 2 in 2022…
Bailey seemed to suggest he would not have the power to change abortion laws in Illinois if he became governor.
“Illinois has the most permissive abortion law in the nation,” he said. “Nothing is going to change when I’m governor. I couldn’t change them if I could.”
* Politico today…
THIS IS HUGE: Republican Darren Bailey says he’s not going to ban abortion if he’s elected governor. In a social media post yesterday, he said, “Let’s settle this right now: I am not banning abortion. And I am not restricting it. I’ve got two jobs as your next governor: put more money in your pocket and make sure you can walk down your street safely. JB has failed at both.” […]
What it means: Bailey has already said he’s not a MAGA Republican, now this. It looks like a sign that winds are changing in the Republican Party.
- Roadrager - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 12:57 pm:
Between this and the deeply weird framing Politico offered about a trip to Manny’s Deli the other day, they’re really reinforcing my belief that Beltway Journalists should stay inside that first word because they definitely are not the second one.
- twowaystreet - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 12:59 pm:
I see the excitement manufacturing facility is up and running on all cylinders today.
I miss Natasha any time I open IL Politico.
- twowaystreet - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:00 pm:
*firing on all cylinders today.
- Leap Day William - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:00 pm:
== Bailey has already said he’s not a MAGA Republican, now this. It looks like a sign that winds are changing in the Republican Party. ==
What I think it means (if he actually runs on this) is that when Bailey gets his electoral clock cleaned even worse this time, the ILGOP will decide they got fewer votes because they weren’t anti-choice enough and then continue to dig further into obscurity.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:01 pm:
With this latest move, Bailey is neck and neck with Pritzker in the horse race. Stay tuned for a photo finish. /s
- Think Again - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:08 pm:
=What it means=
It means that Politico and most posters here, despite years of clear statements, can’t free themselves of a preconceived notion about the GOP candidate for Governor.
- Norseman - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:13 pm:
Politico, I don’t need a bridge from Brooklyn or any other place.
- Terry Salad - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:14 pm:
So, Bailey is a flip-flopper on this issue then, right? What other issues has he changed his mind on? What does he think about politicians who flip flop on such issues? How can we trust him now?
- Alton Sinkhole - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:15 pm:
I can walk down my street safely, and I have more money in my pocket than when Rauner was Gov.
- TheSouthern - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:28 pm:
Making Darren Bailey say this is actually a smart move for Pritzker. There likely will be a third party candidate who must pull votes away from both candidates to win (even though we know that won’t happen). The third party candidate now has a mailer to send to the Hard Rs downstate highlighting that Darren Bailey is not trustworthy and won’t ban abortion (his words). Ironically, some Pritzker backed SuperPAC may fund those mailers. Absolute decimation by Pritzker will only enhance his Presidential bid and hopefully send Bailey back to his government-funded farm forever.
- Duck Duck Goose - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:28 pm:
=”I couldn’t change them if I could.”=
That is a deep and abiding lack of agency.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:33 pm:
==So, Bailey is a flip-flopper ===
Try reading the post. He did this four years ago, too.
You missed the entire point.
- Steve - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:33 pm:
Darren Bailey: the abortion banner yet Illinois doesn’t have a constitutional right in their state constitution. Go figure.
- Billy Bob - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:34 pm:
Shia is bad at this, part 37,462.
- Gruntled University Employee - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:34 pm:
== It looks like a sign that winds are changing in the Republican Party.==
And Bruce Rauner ran on not being anti-union.
- btowntruth from forgottonia - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:41 pm:
So.
You have a friend who is a hardcore anti-abortion Republican.
Show them what Bailey said and ask them “Who are you voting for for Governor now?”
I did something similar when Rauner signed the HB40 bill on abprtion back in 2017.
If you want to see cognitive dissonance and sputerring I recommend it.
- Alton Sinkhole - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:43 pm:
Shia does a fine job she’s just not as good as Rich at this (nobody is) and y’all judge her by the Miller standard. IMO.
- here we go again - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:53 pm:
Darren Bailey believes abortion is wrong and contrary to the Bible, even in cases of rape of incest. He’s zero tolerance. No exceptions. Plenty of social conservatives can testify about him saying this in closed meetings. So what does his opportunistic backtrack now even mean?
- Big Dipper - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:59 pm:
Funny he never says this during the primaries.
- twowaystreet - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 2:07 pm:
===Shia does a fine job she’s just not as good as Rich at this (nobody is) and y’all judge her by the Miller standard. IMO.===
I don’t need Rich saying this is bad to conclude that it is. Rich saved me the trouble of finding old Bailey quotes to answer the question I had while reading this. “Didn’t Bailey say something very similar years ago?”
And to say the Republican party is changing because of this and his spat with the Pope is an insane take for a “journalist.” Maybe wait until his come out against Trump or the national party on an important policy like the Supreme Court’s gutting of the federal VRA, or Trump’s war with Iran & the insane gas prices that followed, or his tariff policy, or his quest for Greenland and alineating European allies, or his tax cuts for rich people, or his vast wealth his family has acquired of cryptocurrency…
I don’t even read Politico daily anymore, and it’s been like that for a while.
- Anon - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 2:07 pm:
No idea how Shia can live in Illinois for as long as she has and still not know basic aspects of our politics…if Politico had any amount of shame they would have hired a real journalist for the role long ago.
- Pundent - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 2:11 pm:
=can’t free themselves of a preconceived notion about the GOP candidate for Governor.=
Based on Bailey’s own words it’s more than just a notion::
“the attempted extermination of the Jews of World War II doesn’t even compare on a shadow of the life that has been lost with abortion since its legalization”
So maybe he can’t or won’t take steps to curtail abortion. But given his prior remarks why chance it?
- Alton Sinkhole - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 2:20 pm:
==I don’t need Rich saying this is bad to conclude that it is.==
I agree that she overstated the importance of this. I just don’t view it as that big of a deal.
- Streator Curmudgeon - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 2:29 pm:
“…It looks like a sign that winds are changing in the Republican Party.”
Nope. Nope. I’m still smelling manure.
- Pundent - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 2:53 pm:
I will say this for Darren Bailey, he does at least acknowledge that no meaningful change happens in the state if it doesn’t start at the legislative level. And his track record there was less than stellar. And that brings us to his self-own.
How does an ineffective Republican State Senator, who’s been out of office for quite a few years, transition to becoming an effective Governor in a state firmly controlled by the Democratic Party? Because the same obstacles that would keep Darren Bailey from banning abortion would pretty much prevent him from accomplishing anything else.
- Jerry - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 4:08 pm:
I’ll believe it when he gets kicked out of maga.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 4:12 pm:
==So what does his opportunistic backtrack now even mean?==
He’s not backtracking. Read the post. He’s saying that because there is nothing he can do about abortion even if he were to become Governor. He’s simply not going to waste time on it.
- Ducky LaMoore - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 4:51 pm:
The only Republicans elected governor in the last half century were essentially prochoice. Thompson, Edgar, Ryan, Rauner. All of them. Think about that.
- Annonin' - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 5:22 pm:
Now we must see Beetle as BACO
- H-W - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 6:06 pm:
Okay, going out on a limb here. But what if Bailey had just stopped when he said, “those aren’t issues that divide us?”
Saying Pritzker was wrong just loses the issue all over again. Abortion is a woman’s choice. Say that. Then and only then will conservatives and liberals who listen to you listen to you. All else is pandering.
But I digress.