Gov. J.B. Pritzker and GOP challenger Darren Bailey trade insults and interrupt each other in first televised debate

NORMAL, Ill. — Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Republican challenger Darren Bailey engaged in a chippy first face-to-face broadcast debate Thursday night, as each man frequently interrupted the other with claims of lies, deception and hypocrisy.

Charges and countercharges filled the hour-long forum, which comes as early voting has been underway for a week throughout much of the state and begins Friday in Chicago, and with little more than a month before Election Day.

But the event, which was held at Illinois State University in Normal, sponsored by AARP and broadcast statewide on Nexstar TV stations, elicited some noteworthy items.

Pritzker, who has raised speculation that he might seek the presidency, said he “intended” to serve four more years as governor if reelected and was supporting President Joe Biden for another term.

Pritzker also vowed to enact a ban on assault-style firearms after working with the Democratic-controlled General Assembly, likely in its next session.

But Pritzker, asked if he would vow to not raise taxes if elected to a second term, would not take the pledge. He did say he would not make another attempt to seek passage of a graduated-rate income tax system that voters rejected two years ago, and he said continued balanced state budgets could lead to permanent tax cuts.

Bailey, a state senator from downstate Xenia who opposes abortion with the exception of cases in which the life of the mother is in jeopardy, refused to say if he would seek such a ban in Illinois, while Pritzker has made promotion of abortion rights a centerpiece of his campaign.

Bailey faced controversy over a 2017 video in which he contended the 6 million deaths of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust of World War II paled in comparison with lives lost to abortion. Bailey has said he hasn’t needed to apologize and that unnamed Jewish leaders “have told me that I’m right.” In the debate, Bailey stood by his Holocaust comparison and said “the facts are true when you compare the numbers.” But he refused to name the Jewish leader, saying, “I’m not going to put anybody on record.”

Bailey, who has called for the repeal of the state criminal justice reform legislative package called the SAFE-T Act and criticized its provisions for cashless bail, acknowledged he could support unspecified “bail reform for nonviolent criminals.” But he continued to contend the cashless bail provisions taking effect Jan. 1 were akin to “attaching revolving doors to every jail in the state of Illinois. And, friends, we’re going to have the exact same problem across the state that Chicago is experiencing.”

Pritzker said Bailey’s comments were in line with Republicans who “have put out a lot of disinformation, a whole list of things that they say are non-detainable offenses. There’s no such thing.” He said the goal of the criminal justice reform package was “to keep murderers, rapists, domestic abusers, violent criminals in jail.”

Still Pritzker acknowledged that changes to the law should be made but he repeatedly did not offer any specifics, saying, “I think there are clarifications that can be made in the law to make sure that everyone understands what this law does.”

Throughout the debate in an auditorium at the Bone Student Center on ISU’s campus, Bailey paced, smiled, laughed and interjected comments from behind his red lectern as Pritzker spoke. Pritzker stayed behind his blue lectern and often jotted down notes. He also repeatedly interjected comments while Bailey spoke.

Pritzker, an entrepreneur and a billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, and Bailey, a wealthy farmer, also spent much of the night referring to each other as liars more than a dozen times.

“Well, over and over again you’ve heard Darren Bailey lie just for the last 10 minutes of this debate,” Pritzker said. “And I have to say that he’s following the footsteps of the person he begged for an endorsement from. That’s Donald Trump. The truth is that we need a governor who actually stands up for the truth.”

But Bailey contended that it was Pritzker who was glossing over problems in the state.

“I think it’s pretty obvious when people across the state consider where we are at today versus when J.B. Pritzker started. There is nothing that’s any better. Our property taxes, our crime, inflation, our schools. Things are a disaster,” Bailey said before offering his stock answer on problem solving. “So I will bring (people) to the table and create unity. We’ll all sit down and talk.”

Bailey is an ardent gun rights supporter who wants to repeal the state’s firearm owner’s identification card. He also is the founder of a Christian school in downstate Louisville that posts warnings on outdoor signs that its staff is heavily armed. Asked whether he believed public school teachers should be armed, Bailey said that it was up to the Illinois General Assembly. Speaking about the Bailey-affiliated school, he said: “That school’s not political and I’m not dragging it into this campaign.”

On issues ranging from cutting the state budget to increased gun control measures, Bailey maintained a similar answer: “We have everything we need within our laws and our agencies” in decrying further lawmaking. He said he would reprioritize spending in the state budget but did not offer specifics.

Bailey, who previously said the federal government should set minimum wages, said in the debate that he would not seek to repeal the state’s minimum wage, which will be $13 an hour in January and $15 an hour by 2025. But he lashed out at organized labor for its support for a proposed state constitutional amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot that would codify expanded collective bargaining rights while preventing so-called right-to-work laws that do not require a unionized workforce.

“Union members already have that right” to collectively bargain, Bailey said.

“My message is this: Unions, stay in your lane and everything will be fine. Leave mom and pop and private business alone,” Bailey said to some boos as he maintained the amendment was an example of regulations on business that have cost jobs.

But Pritzker said the proposed amendment was needed to balance worker rights with corporations.

“Look, corporations are much more powerful than an individual worker who wants to go in and bargain for their own wages. So workers ought to be able to get together and go in together to try to get a better wage and safer workplace benefits,” Pritzker said.

The Democratic governor also criticized Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, two Republicans who have sent asylum-seekers from the border to sanctuary cities and states, including Chicago and Illinois.

“When the governor of Texas, the governor of Florida are inhumanely sending people, who are here legally or refugees to this country seeking asylum … we have an obligation to act in a way that we should be proud of, that we’re going to make sure they get food, that they get shelter, that they get health care,” Pritzker said.

Bailey said the Illinois response was “doing what Illinois does best, continuing to help people in need.”

“But the reality is no state or city can fund this or afford this,” the Republican said. “So I’ve asked Gov. Pritzker to get a hold of his pal, Joe Biden, and secure the border and he won’t do that. Send us the funds that we need, the resources that we need and if he won’t do that, put them up in one of your Hyatts on your own dime.”

The second and final broadcast debate will be at 7 p.m. on Oct. 18 at WGN-TV’s studios in Chicago.

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