SE Illinois News

Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey is touring the state and encouraging registered voters to make their voices heard by going to the ballot box for the upcoming general election.

Bailey, a current state senator, shared pictures from the first stops on his "Get Out The vote Bus Tour" in a Facebook post this week.

"Fired up crowds in Springfield, Litchfield and Belleville yesterday as we kicked off our Get Out The Vote Bus Tour!" he said in the post. "Our movement continues to grow every day, and come November 8th our grassroots movement will vote to #firepritzker and restore hope to Illinois!"

Bailey received support from the Illinois State Rifle Association's Political Victory Fund and was named their endorsed candidate for governor, an emailed news release said. 

Bailey and his pick for Lt. Governor, Stephanie Trussell, aren't new to the bus tour concept. The Prairie State Wire previously reported on the kickoff of a short tour last month, in which Bailey encouraged people to "mark your calendars for a stop coming up near you."

Bailey has been critical of his opponent, incumbent Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker, and noted that Pritzker's bus had a Tennessee license plate. He called out the governor on Facebook, saying, "The trust fund billionaire who removed his toilets to avoid paying taxes is now picking up a campaign bus in Tennessee to avoid paying higher taxes and fees." As previously reported by the Wire, Pritzker asked to have five toilets removed from his Gold Coast mansion home to reduce the property's worth from $6.25 million to $1.1 million.

Pritzker's net worth is approximately $3.6 billion, a recent Forbes report said.