SE Illinois News

State Sen. and Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) has vowed to support parents in both their decisions on where to send their children to school and whether or not they choose to mask their children.

Bailey made his stance known in a Valentine's Day tweet. 

"We support school choice and options for parents to ensure they can provide their child with the best possible education. One where they're taught to chase their dreams and find success. One where masks are optional and possibilities are endless," Bailey wrote in the tweet from his campaign account.

Bailey has been critical of Gov. J.B. Prtizker's (D) COVID mitigation mandates, including keeping children masked in class. He took to Twitter once again to react to Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow's ruling that sided with parents who filed a lawsuit and were granted a temporary restraining order. According to Prairie State Wire, the judge's decision halted efforts to keep children masked in schools named in the suit.

"As your next Governor, I will repeal all of Pritzker's mandates. You should make these decisions, not government," Bailey wrote in a Feb. 6 tweet.

Pritzker had announced plans to lift the statewide indoor mask mandate by the end of the month, except for hospital, nursing homes and schools. Pritzker took his fight against the restraining order to an appeals court, but lost and vowed to continue the case in the Supreme Court. Bailey issued a statement on Twitter following the appellate court ruling.

"This ruling is another victory for freedom that confirms what we already knew and have been fighting for since the beginning," Bailey wrote in the statement. "Pritzker is a failure, and I will continue fighting against his tyrannical mandates and empty threats while standing up for the rights of parents, students, small businesses, and every Illinoisan who has suffered under his unconstitutional and unilateral mandates. It's time to restore common sense to Springfield."

Bailey called the Governor a "tyrant" for taking the fight over masks to court instead of consulting with the state legislature in a Feb. 9 tweet.

In a separate tweet almost ten days later, Bailey posted that Pritzker's continued fight to impose masks at schools shows he acts "like the spoiled, trust-fund billionaire brat he is."