Trump has repeatedly touted the ostensibly positive record for his endorsements, but Election Day could produce a series of resounding defeats for several of his prominently backed picks.
In Illinois, state legislator Darren Bailey is losing by 17 percent in the governor’s race against incumbent Democrat J.B. Pritzker, according to the most recently cataloged poll at FiveThirtyEight, which was done by Civiqs. Pritzker’s lead has reached single digits in other polling — but it has also sailed into double digits in still further polling, so the Democratic governor seems as though he is in a good position. In the Civiqs poll, Pritzker nabbed 56 percent of the support, while Bailey had 39 percent. Half of respondents expressed a favorable view of Pritzker — and only 29 percent expressed the same of Bailey. These dismal fortunes for the Bailey campaign mirror polling from the gubernatorial contests in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. In all three states, incumbents are departing, and in the first two, those incumbents are Republicans. In each locale, the Republican hoping to fill the role is losing by sometimes massive margins in polls.
Trump made a campaign stop in Illinois before the state’s primaries. He only formally endorsed Bailey with days left before Election Day in the GOP primary contest, when his lead was clear — making any argument about the supposedly critical nature of the former president’s endorsement only more difficult to believe. The Bailey campaign was already winning. During the rally, Trump complained about Pritzker’s record of dealing with COVID-19. “Darren is just the man to take on and defeat one of the worst governors in America, J.B. Pritzker. He’s one of the worst,” Trump told his listeners. “I had to deal with this guy for a long time on COVID. He was as bad as anybody there is. He did a horrible job. He locked everybody in and locked them up. He was a disaster. His numbers are terrible. Everybody’s fleeing your state, okay? This is a disaster, and Darren is the opposite.”
Bailey also spoke on stage, as did Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.), who won her primary. In Bailey’s remarks, he looked forward to the prospect of Donald running for president again in 2024 — something Trump has yet to formally announce but which he keeps pointing towards. “I made a promise to President Trump. In 2024, Illinois will roll the red carpet out for him because Illinois will be ready for President Trump,” Bailey told the crowd. Republican politicians who win key administrative spots next month could later threaten the integrity of the 2024 presidential election results if Trump runs again and loses. In 2020, Trump failed in many of his efforts at turning back the results because those in power wouldn’t go along with it. What if that changes? Even if it’s eventually set right, what about the ensuing chaos?
