In Tonight’s GOP Gubernatorial Primary Debate, Get Ready for Chaotic Attacks and Messy In-Fighting

Tonight, the Republican candidates for governor will finally face off in what is guaranteed to be a debate night filled with the chaotic attacks and messy in-fighting that has come to define the tumultuous primary. This will be the first primary debate with all six candidates present, following last week’s dueling debates because the candidates couldn’t agree on one.

With the primary election less than a month away, all eyes will be on the apparent frontrunners in the increasingly tight race: Darren Bailey and Richard Irvin. Bailey has staked his claim as the most far-right, uber-conservative candidate in the race with endorsements from leading anti-abortion groups and former Trump advisors.

Meanwhile, Richard Irvin is best known for his long string of corrupt pay to play scandals and his refusal to answer for his own record — or take a stance on much of anything at all. What Irvin does answer for, he rewrites to match megadonor Ken Griffin’s own platform.

One topic that both candidates will certainly be asked about is Donald Trump. While Bailey’s actively vying for the former president’s endorsement, Irvin’s exposed texts calling Trump an “idiot” and “bigoted racist” calls his support into question. Irvin has ducked, dodged, and deflected every time he’s asked about his anti-Trump texts — and while he skirts questions about his own voting record, Irvin continues to attack his opponents for theirs.

“The candidates in this Republican primary have spent the past few months tripping over each other to prove their extreme conservative bonafides — and the same is to be expected from tonight’s debate,” said DGA Senior Communications Advisor Christina Amestoy. “Instead of speaking to the issues that matter most to Illinois voters, tonight’s debate is guaranteed to be a display of Republicans in chaotic disarray. Illinois voters will remember that at the ballot box.”